Today is a nice day, 41° and partly cloudy which also makes it partly sunny. That’s the part I notice. That’s the part I can see out my den window, the light blue sky part. The rain is gone. Everything is quiet. Nothing moves. The air has a chill, like an early spring chill. This is the oddest winter.
When I was a kid, I yearned for Snow, especially if I had gotten a sled for Christmas. Back then all the sleds were wooden with metal runners. The steering was left to right or right to left in the front, one hand on each side, left and right. A rope was attached through a hole on each side of the sled’s steering, and pulling the rope was how we got the sled back up the hill. I have a picture in my memory drawer of pulling the sled up the hill. I can see my mittens covered in ice pulling the rope also covered in ice looped on the sled from side to side, left to right or right to left. That is my most vivid memory image of sledding when I was a kid. I remember the feelings, especially the glee at the down-hill speed. If you left from the top, it was a long hill, steep at the top, wider at the bottom. Sometimes the bottom got slushy before the rest of the hill. It was, nonetheless, a great hill with lots of options like sledding from the top or starting in the middle. I sledded from the top.
As long as there was no wind or snow, I could ride my bike. It always seemed a bit odd to be riding my bike in winter. It was also cumbersome. The bike had to be moved out of the cellar then back into the cellar any time it was used. It was mostly worth it, that sense of riding my bike and holding back winter.
I think the snow is pretty, but I have no interest in any snow activities. I do like watching the snow fall lit by the back light, but that is the extent of my interest. I look every now and then to check how high the snow is on the rail and how much snow is still falling. That snow check dates back to the start of my teaching career. I loved the unexpected day off even though I knew it had to be made up at the end. It was like a late Christmas present.
