I grew up in Northern New Jersey. Being from the Northeast meant certain things. One of the things we loved the most as children was snow. A snow day was the most wonderful day imaginable. We didn't get that many.
It showed regularly in New Jersey but, the town was ready for real snowfall. It had to be a very serious snow storm to give us a snow day off from school. Believe me, you have not lived until you have ridden in a school bus as it virtually slid down a mountain to get you to school. There was no problem being awake for the first class of the day. You had already been terrified.
But, getting to school was a problem for grown-ups to deal with. We children lived for the snow. I always loved how our front lawn looked after a night of good heavy snow. The trees looked so pretty and the lawns looked pristine. I would hate when kids would walk across the beautiful untouched lawn and ruin the beauty of it's smoothness.
There was always the fun part of a good snowfall but, I'll get to that later. Before any fun could be had, we had chores to do. The main one being to shovel the large driveway. Our driveway could fit two cars side by side and honestly, 4 cars could fit comfortably in the space. 2 would be in front of the garages and two right behind those. It was a good bit of real estate for children to shovel.
My older brother and I were assigned to perform this task. Being small, my brother would bully me into doing the whole job. He'd get away with it too! I never did figure out how he managed to get away with making me shovel the entire driveway. Well, I think I eventually figured out that it was because my mother just got tired of hearing me cry so, she would say just be quiet and go do it! I suppose I did it to myself.
One day, after a particularly heavy snowfall, I had been complaining about having to shovel the whole driveway and I guess I was getting rather loud. I was only a little kid and didn't really have any concept that others lived in the neighborhood. Suddenly, our neighbor whom I adored, stuck her head out of her door and hollered across the street to me. "Robert Dennis! I have been listening to you cry all morning. You could have shoveled that entire driveway 4 times by now."
Well, let me tell you; I was flabbergasted. This was just unfair. As I tried to tell Mrs. Collins this, she informed me that my brother was indeed a bully and it is NOT at all fair however, it is even more unfair that she has to listen to me cry all morning about it. Furthermore, my crying is not getting the driveway shoveled out.
I learned my lesson. I shoveled out the driveway and as I came into the house, the phone rang. My Mom answered. After a quick conversation, Momma hung up the phone and said: "Robert Dennis. Go over to Mrs. Collins' house. She wants to see you." Now as any child knows, when an adult uses both your first and middle name, it means only one thing. You are in trouble.
I trudged over to our neighbor's home, across the street. As I arrived at the front door, it opened and Mrs. Collins was there, smiling at me. She invited me in and asked me to take off my coat, hat and mittens. We went into her kitchen and she had hot chocolate and a grilled cheese sandwich for me. I wasn't in trouble at all. I got a "special" lunch just because I finally learned that it was better to just suck it up sometimes, even when it's unfair.
You know, that's a good lesson to learn, especially for an 8 year old.
After the chores were done, we got to use our sleds. We lived on a hill so we had some great sledding. Mickey got to go off skiing. I wasn't allowed but, I had a wonderful time sledding. We would finally come home, soaked to the skin. As we took off our wet cloths, we would have chattering teeth yet we would tell Mom that we were not cold at all. Momma would just laugh as she hustled me off to a warm bath. Yes indeed, I did love snow days.
I live in Hampton Roads, Virginia now. It doesn't snow much here. Some years we get no snow at all. When we do get even a light snowfall, most people act like the world is coming to an end. It's kind of comical.
Last year, we had a couple of good snows, nothing major but enough to cover the grass. During one snowfall, my youngest daughter and I were at the mall when it really started. We started for home. My daughter had never driven in any snow before. I told her to avoid the brake and slow and steady wins the race. When we were nearly home, we came upon a car with two girls in it, pulled to the side of the road. I asked if they needed any help. They informed me that there was something wrong with their tires. The car keeps sliding all over the road. Shaking our heads, my daughter and I continued on our way.
So, I don't want a major snow storm. Just enough snow to cover the lawns and make the trees pretty is all I ask. I'm not allowed to shovel snow any longer but, my two sons will make sure it gets cleaned off the walk.
As always...
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