Jane, Ashley and I walked up the street to Chastain Park to find a parade of families using the closest golf course for their own personal sled hill. And it was awesome! We even asked some boys if we could use their sled for one ride while they were distracted by a snowball fight. And that was even more awesome.
I couldn't help but be reminded of some of the best snow memories ever...
Shoveling the side yard
Yes, you read that right. In the mid-'80s, one of our favorite winter past times was building snow forts next to the driveway. My parents would encourage us to shovel all of the snow into the biggest pile we could make. We did. It was probably their sneaky little trick to get us to shovel the entire driveway seeing as they bought a snow blower after we left for college, but we still had a great time. The forts were incredible! Of course, they were the best and biggest forts ever. I know we built at least one that included tunnels, tunnels that seemed dozens of feet long and were so high I actually stood up inside at least once (um...OK, I so I was unusually short as a young child, but it was still impressive in our world). Well, during one snowfall we didn't think we had enough snow. So, of course, we took the saucer sled and carried shoveled snow from our entire lawn to the pile next to the driveway. I'm pretty sure that we were the only people with green-looking grass in the middle of a snow storm. We were the envy of the neighborhood.
Cold Days
Growing up in Chicago, I had school canceled in the same calendar year for it being too hot and too cold. Yes, the temperature. I went to an old, brick high school with no air-conditioning, and during a summer class, we had classes canceled after too many days of 100something-degree heat. But that's another story. Back to the cold.
Three out of four Januarys, we had cold days. When the wind chill hit -40-degrees, it was deemed too dangerous for an elementary school child to walk to school or wait for a school bus. Therefore, the district shut down. WIN! Freshmen year, cold weather postponed finals for a week. Junior year, I thought it was a brilliant idea for this to be the one night I ever lied to my parents about where I was going, not factoring in the problem that cars don't always start in such cold weather. I remember sitting in that parking lot making deals with God about how if my car did start, I would never lie again. It started. (Mom & Dad...if you're reading this, remember that it 15 years ago and know that it wasn't illegal.)
Senior year, I was much smarter. Mary T (now Mary P) and I took her jeep and snowboard to a local sledding hill, without appropriate warm clothes, so I could learn this new winter sport. Being an avid skier and she being the only with a snowboard...we were brilliant. And freezing. At 10 o'clock at night.
Teenagers are smart. Clearly.
Trash Bags & Parking Lots
Senior year in college holds two wonderful snow memories. The first was sometime after midnight during finals week. It was the first snowfall of the year, and the four of us - Christie, Jessica & Kim, my three awesome roommates - were studying at our Ross Street apartment. Jessica had the brilliant idea to take trash bags and go sledding down the parking lot. Yes, the parking lot. There was an 8-foot hill with a slight slant that made for much laughter. We went inside all cold and wet for some hot chocolate, and the next thing we knew, all the people who were giving us strange looks from our apartment complex were out there doing the same thing. It was an instant 1 AM study-break party.
That same week, a few days later, I went sledding with Laura A, Matt H and Wethe (Matt & Laura are not married). We were in the field behind the ag school and decked out in so many clothes were were like young children who could barely move or walk. And, of course, it was about midnight. We slid down the hill so fast that we didn't realize that there were those cement dividers in between the parking spaces in the lot at the end. I hit one, got air and managed to not die. It was awesome.
Closing Denver
It snowed 3-feet in less than two days. Starbucks even closed. I was living in campus apartments at Denver Seminary, so there were friends everywhere. The most impressive memory is that a group of grown men took huge plastic tubs to build a fort. And not just any fort. It was a fort big enough for these grown men to stand and sleep in. Seriously. It was that cool.
May there be many more snow days in your future!
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