Snow Day
The morning excitement of sliding out of bed and into bed side flip-flops is long gone. Many moons ago that was my ritual. A ritual that, early on, included salt water and sand. Thirty years later, I have traded flip-flops for powder clogs, sand for snow, and a boogie board for a sled.
Throughout my childhood, I heard tales of children waking to snow covered streets and school cancellations. The closest thing to a snow day in my world was when schools closed because of hurricanes or storms. It only happened occasionally and within the first couple of months of a school year during hurricane season. Nowadays, I watch a daily ticker scroll across the morning news listing the school closings in the region. I imagine hundreds of kids receiving the news and cheering as they start their days.
I recently experienced my first snow day as a ‘work from home’ day. Hours passed sitting at my bay window desk watching the weather shift from rain to freezing rain to snow. By afternoon, the storm had settled to snow and the kids were coming out to play. I watched a family walk towards the park to play in the snow. Dad ran his gloves across the retaining wall ledge and packed a snowball. He tossed it at his son and the boy followed suit.
After watching the kids walk to the park all day, I glanced over at the sled the missus had given me for Christmas. I never wondered how a maiden voyage would feel for a forty year old sledding virgin, but it seemed to be the perfect time to discover the answer.
Daylight was gone and the kids home for the night. I suited up and headed to the park with my bright orange sled in tow. My youthful excitement bubbled with each step closer. Upon arrival, I quickly realized I was in uncharted waters. I inspected my sled and considered the physics of the situation; calculating the coefficient of friction and slope estimation of the snow covered hill. The missus recognized my pause and shouted, “Okay, go! …just jump on it and push your body weight down the hill!” I obeyed the commands and started sliding carefree down the hill. Oh what joy! The sled whispered as I traveled down the hill, smile frozen on my face. All is right with the world. Playground in my path! I lean left to keep my run going as long as possible. The sled slips out. I slide and roll down the hill, laughing the whole time.
I often hear people say, “You’re only as old as you feel inside.” Well, sometimes I feel like I’m eight years old but that doesn’t mean I want to go through junior high again. It really just means I wound’t mind having a few more snow days.
