WINTER MEANDERINGS

BACK YARD TREAT!

THE FIRST SHOVELING OF THE SEASON

JUST IN TIME FOR THE HOLIDAYS!

There is nothing quite as beautiful as the first real winter snowstorm.  It’s fresh and pure and magical.  It’s what winter is meant to be in the great northland.  Or so it felt this morning.  But I am reminded of other times when I didn’t always feel the same way.  Let’s call it a love-hate relationship with winter.  One minute I’m fed up and ready to move down south or out west, and the next minute I’m praising the beauty of living in four-season land. Here are some random thoughts about winter from a few years ago when I still lived in Minneapolis and not out in the suburbs.  I no longer have my own car, but I still like to look back and remember when. . .

THAT OLD SONATA

            “Waking up to -21 degrees (-39 degrees wind chill)—a measurement most of the world never heard of—AREN’T WE LUCKY!  I find myself praying that my car will start; last winter my Ford Taurus started, but the door on the driver’s side didn’t want to close on a bitterly cold morning.  I wound up holding it shut as I drove 15 miles to work—no small feat driving on the freeway.  Once it warmed up after I got there, the door closed.  I now have a Hyundai Sonata, which has winter problems of its own, but at least the heater works well.  Forget about the air conditioning in summer.  Morgan (my granddaughter) says, “Grandma, it’s more important to have a heater in winter than an air conditioner in summer.  Your windows are your air conditioner.”  It’s all about perspective, isn’t it?  And besides, isn’t -21 actual temperature better than -42 like it was in International Falls, Minnesota?  Wonder what their wind chill was?!

            Black ice caused by below zero temperatures and exhaust from cars led to numerous accidents on freeways.  I nearly wound up in one a few years ago, driving only 40 miles per hour, but experiencing no braking ability at one point near an underpass when cars slowed down.  It gives new meaning to the phrase “bracing for excitement.”

            A conversation overheard in a CUB grocery store:  “This weather makes it really hard to just do routine things.”  Well said!  Sometimes I forget that I’m not the only one who feels drained by just walking around in the snow and cold.  I feel like I’m climbing a mountain as I trudge through the deep snow around the side of the house and up the back stairs.  The air makes me cough.  Then I remember that the treadmill is hard work too, but it produces results.  Just let go and take it slow, I tell myself.  Real slow!

            I find myself wondering if the cat will accept the winter challenge this morning.  I open the door and he sniffs the air and shudders.  I laugh out loud!  The cat who likes “normal” cold weather won’t budge. 

            I’m climbing over snow banks to reach my street and head to my car in the darkness of the morning, feeling grumpy, and then spotting the most beautiful moon imaginable.  It took my breath away more than a frigid morning ever could.  The great grand universe!

            Winter involves getting Ethan (my grandson) ready to go outdoors in the morning—turtle neck, sweatshirt, thick winter coat, scarf, boots, and warm gloves.  It makes me think of the book I used to read to my own kids—MY MOM HATES ME IN JANUARY!  Mom takes forever getting her son all bundled up to go out and play and within five minutes he wants to come in.

            Winter is stressing over unplowed roads after a snowstorm and wondering whether I can make it up the street where I live.  When a snow emergency is called for the City of Minneapolis you definitely learn the difference between odd and even sides of the road.  Being parked on the wrong side can mean a trip in the cold to the impound lot to get your car which has been towed away.  The added insult is a fine of $200 or more for retrieving it.  The number 348-SNOW is forever locked in my memory.

            Morgan loves watching and helping me kick ice chunks off the wheels of the car.  I told her it feels good to do it; it’s fun and it relieves anxiety and frustration.  We have a good laugh, imagining kicking off excess chunks from other people’s cars.  I play it to the hilt and she can’t stop laughing.

            We come home from school feeling exhausted from fighting the cold and biting wind after a long walk to the car, but we settle in to a comforting cup of hot chocolate, a cookie, and a GOOSEBUMPS story.  Life is good!

            Hearing the beautiful sound of a cardinal perched on a tree right outside the window makes me re-evaluate winter once again.  If the cardinal can sing joyously in the dead of winter, what am I grumbling about?

            Winter makes me appreciate the dedicated snow plow drivers who faithfully plow the streets and highways during and after snowstorms.  They’re amazing!

ME (ON LEFT) AND MY PALS

            I remember the joy of gliding on ice as a kid and racing on sleds down treacherous snow banks.  It was scary and exhilarating.  Then sitting by the fire in the Boy Scout cabin trying to warm up and head back out again.  “How long can I last in the cold this time?” I sometimes wondered.  Seeing kids sledding in the bitter cold near Morgan’s school made me question the wisdom of their parents, but then I remembered. . .

            Yesterday as we headed outside it felt like summer.  The sun was shining and it was over 30 degrees.  It actually felt good to be outdoors again.  I spotted a big chunk of ice that looked like an ice goose.  I started laughing and shared the thought with the kids.  Morgan said, “I see that Grandma.”  Ethan seconded the thought.  Winter was fun again, and in the afternoon when we saw several dozen kids sledding down the big hills at Morgan’s school, I drifted back again to my own childhood when winter seemed like the perfect season.  For a few minutes I wanted to be transported back.  Ethan and I walked inside the school, waiting for Morgan and stood next to some unusual looking contraptions.  We both wondered what they were.  The principal came over to us and said that they were brand new snowshoes for the kids.  I’d never see that in any school before.  Talk about being lucky!

            I love hearing about the kids adventures of going snow tubing with their dad.  I’m brought back to memories of Kai heading off to the skating rink near our house when he was a kid.  He had to run down Killer Hill to get there.  Other days Killer Hill was an adventure in itself.  There was the easy slide down or the treacherous one that made every trip down the hill a “killer” with its hefty bumps.

            As I reminisce about winter with children, I remember the quote from the movie An Affair to Remember:  “Winter must be cold for those with no warm memories.”

ADDING NEW MEMORIES!

            I have winter memories galore and new ones added every day. One of the secrets to its enjoyment is laughter—abundant laughter, over the smallest things, and when you can share that laughter with children, it makes it so much richer.  Victor Hugo was right in saying, “Laughter is the sun that drives the WINTER from the human face.”  And yet, I’m often yearning for spring and its newness, its fresh hope, for as Hal Borland said, “No WINTER lasts forever; no spring skips its turn.”  I’ll be ready when it makes its entrance.