Oh, my how I loved those 1970s & 80s’ winters. I still crave them sometimes. It has left me with a deep love for winter! My mom loves snow as I do; and for instilling that love within me, I thank her!
It seemed that we always had a place to sleigh ride. I feel that snow and sleigh-riding (yes, “sleigh-riding” —we didn’t call it sledding) is such a part of my past that, as much as I love the beach, I’m not sure I would ever want to spend all of my winters in the warm and sunny!
We had a mini-hill right by our front porch. It actually was a large hill, but for sleigh riding, we only used a small portion of it. This hill was always better suited for when we were younger or only had a small bit of snow.
My favorite spot was across the road from our house. It was a cow pasture, owned by our farm neighbors, The Powells. It was a rather large hill with a nice long landing at the bottom. Now, however, at the edge of the landing, right by the road, was a barbed-wire fence. This really didn’t pose a problem unless we had a really good run…we may have busted an inner tube (“sleigh” of choice) or two in our day on that fence, but that was not the ‘norm’.
I was an only child for almost eight years, so my fun in the snow was with my cousins. (Sorry, Kev!) So, the hill across the road made for quite a few memories. One in particular, I can only recall bits and pieces, but I think you’ll find it worth relating.
Not only did my cousins sleigh ride with me, but sometimes their cousin(s), neighbors, and other friends. This one in particular was my dad’s friend, Jack. He decided to have a go at our hill. I don’t remember who was with him, but there they went; and the thing that stands out to me was, after being tossed from the tube, he plowed his head in the snow. Instead of a toboggan on his head, he had snow imbedded into his hair as if he suddenly turned gray! Oh, what a sight!
As time progressed, our beloved cow pasture was sectioned off for a possible home site. That didn’t pan out as drilling for water was necessary for our road at that time. Although we had very good water, across the road, they hit salt water. The home site was moved down a bit, but regardless, that barbed wire fence was placed right at the bottom of our sleigh-riding hill. Having to pursue a new spot did not stop us!
When I was very small, we had gone at least one time, as I recall, to my cousins’ house. They lived on a farm, on a hill. The only thing I really recall is being outside very cold, and my mom rode into some briars and scratched up her face. Being very sensitive, I cried for her. I don’t rightly recall, but knowing I have been told, “Don’t cry; your tears will freeze!” perhaps this was the first time I heard it! I’m not sure why we didn’t continue to use that area to sleigh ride. Maybe it was the briars; maybe it was the fences, but we lived in the country; we had snow; we needed a new spot!
Around the road from my house just a piece, to the right, and probably through a fence, onto another portion of Powell’s farm, there at the bottom of some very large hills was a tiny pond—very shallow. This was our little ice rink. We didn’t need skates, just our boots. We did have to be careful not to get too close to one edge because the ice was too thin.
Surrounding this pond were some very large, steep hills. But if you trekked closer to the top of one of those hills, you’d find a knoll that had a nice landing. Granted, to me this still wasn’t quite as good as what we had. It was a little more narrow, and it was a hike-and-a-half to get to it! But, use it we did! Sometimes, just two of us…sometimes, three…and sometimes to many too recall!
One thing I loved about that spot was that it sat high on the hill and had a very nice view. One view was of my cousins’ house across the way because as I mentioned, they lived on a hill, too. Probably to walk in the snow from our spot to their house, down this monstrosity and up theirs, it would take a good ten to fifteen minutes, at least, I’m guessing. However, with the view of their house came the signal! When we saw the porch light come on, we knew that the homemade popcorn balls were ready!! As I am grown now and think of this from a mom’s perspective, what fun it must have been to prepare those warm balls of sticky, sweet popcorn with us kids in mind. And then to flick on that porch light knowing how happy we’d be after burning off those extra calories! Thanks, Phyllis!
I don’t even recall which hill(s) we were on for this next memory because that wasn’t the best part. The best part was that after coming in from the snow and stripping off layers of clothing (literally—my mama taught me how to dress to play in the snow!), and hanging them by the fire, we would drink hot chocolate and play spoons! Now, you may be thinking, country folk playing music with spoons. Nope. Not that kind of spoons. This was a game…a game that as many as wanted could play. It could result in some scratches (accidental, of course) on the hands, but oh, what great fun! My mom and dad always made everyone so welcome in our home; and my mom loved to play games, so what a great combination for some fun times when we surrounded that dining room table!
Another time, and back to that monstrous hill, was a night-time sleigh-riding party! It may have been one of its kind. A bonfire was made. Teenagers, relatives, and kids from around the area came with their inner tubes. The main memory I have from that night was when they decided to tie those inner tubes together! Yes, you can imagine! They didn’t just go down the knoll onto the landing but turned and continued down the steeper side of that hill right onto that little pond I told you about! Now whether or not that was planned, I still do not know, but I do know that I was glad I was not on any of those tubes that night!! All survived, and no serious injuries that I recall!! (Praise the Lord!)
Our cozy home was surrounded by hills. On a couple sides of those hills were woods owned by my parents. A creek ran through the property. One winter, we were following the creek into the woods, possibly to visit the abandoned house on an adjacent property…just for fun. This time, my foot went through the ice and got my foot wet. Thankfully, I was still close enough to the house to go back and change…still not a fan of cold feet to this day!
School days in the snow… ah, yes! It seemed we had so much snow in the 70’s that it wasn’t as common to have school cancelations then. The bus would pick us up, and if it didn’t already have chains on the tires, they would usually be put on before it was over. Or, if they were on, they may need to be removed before leaving our rural road and entering the state route.
One instance in particular I recall was quite an experience. Right after I would get on the bus, we had to go up a hill (of course!). Now this hill was not one that you could go over on either side, but a large hill to climb in the snow nonetheless. To beat it all, we had to stop practically smack dab in the center of the hill to do a pick-up. Not being a fan of this type of travel, but basically never missing school at that point, I was not happy about this. To add to the drama, my cousins’ cousin, Timmy, was quite the joker. The bus was stuck. We stopped to pick up Debbie, and then we couldn’t go on up the hill. Sliding back a bit, Timmy was yelling, “There’s nothing holding us up but the mailbox!” Whether it was true or not, I was not a happy camper! Thinking on it now, I’m surprised I didn’t say, “Let me off; I’m going home!” But, I stuck it out as did Garland, our bus driver. He got on and off the bus on that hill adjusting those chains until he had them secure and us safe!
Well, the story doesn’t end there. We made it to school; and if memory serves me correctly that was the day we pulled in the snow-covered parking lot (I’m guessing, at least four inches, maybe more!), and we sat—on the bus. They wouldn’t let us off. Why? Because they were sending us home!!! What?! After all that?! Well, regardless of the difficulty in getting there, I have no doubt that I was happy to be going home! I have ALWAYS, as long as I can remember, literally LOVED a snow day!!
“Snow Day.” Say it. See…it just flows nicely from the tongue. Even after I became an adult, I was happy when my kids had a “snow day.” Oh, and we don’t even need to talk about when I became a teacher! I went back to school when my youngest was in fourth grade. When I finally made it in to public school as a teacher, there were times I longed for…craved snow days! (That might have been a good prediction to me being here today—writing—not teaching in a public school setting…with snow on the ground outside my window as I edit this piece.) Oh, and an early dismissal! Whoohoo! I remember even in junior high the excitement of an early dismissal! That meant the snow was coomminng!!!
Oh, how I cherish those sweet, sweet winter memories…so much so that I have written them to record, remember, and hope to never forget these blessings indeed…and to share them with you.
Simply Celebrate With Jackie 