Snow Day!

Wonder of winter wonders, we're having a snow day today! I can hear the children next door at Darlene's, playing in the snow, and I start thinking back to my snow day memories.

For some reason, there didn't seem to be many "snow days" when I was a child. If there were, they didn't impact me like they did my own kids, I'm sure. I can remember riding around Greenfield Circle, the loop at the end of our street, on a sled pulled behind a car--there weren't many hills in LaGrange. I know we had a flexible flier, but I don't have many memories of enjoying riding on it. One sledding memory does stand out, though.

I was spending what may have started off as the end of Christmas vacation with my twin friends, Betty and Barbara. They lived over on US 42, about 10 miles or so from my house, and I probably wouldn't have had a chance to ever know them, if we hadn't ended up sitting near each other in high school chorus. They were my very best friends for a while, and like so many high-school very best friends, we have completely lost touch with one another. I learned a lot from the twins--talk about naive, I was the champ. But that "snow day" was one special time, let me tell you.

It was probably in 1964, I know they graduated that year. I had gone to spend a couple of days with them, and while I was there, it SNOWED. I have no clue how much, but enough to close schools in Oldham County, which I guarantee did NOT (and still doesn't) happen very often. The twins' father owned a garage and motel, so there was no shortage of inner tubes around. We inflated them and spent the better part of a day sliding down the hills around their house--no Great North slopes or Aspen, for sure, but still way too much fun! Probably the neatest thing about inner tubing is that you have NO control, so plowing into one another was part of the fun. Mike and I tried to recapture the fun at home, but it just wasn't the same. (Did I mention there were no good hills in LaGrange?)

I will admit that I am thankful I don't have to "car ski" to work today. Winter driving didn't scare me a lot when I was younger. I learned to drive in the summer of 1976, which was followed by the winter of 1977. The snow that year after Christmas left kids out of school until February! Our niece had just come to live with us, and her first day in Scott County schools was Valentine's Day. In order for us to do about anything, I had to drive, since David was out of town almost every daylight hour working. Fortunately, we had a great little snow car, a Chevy Vega with a standard transmission. As long as I was driving here in town, I knew NO FEAR.

Fast forward to 1983. I got a job with an independent school district which shall remain nameless. This independent district was about 20 miles from here over a two-lane road that had a few hills, twists and turns. (Actually there were two routes to work, one of which was over an interstate highway, but I chose not to go that way. Believe it or not, sliding off the road into a ditch is less dangerous to one's health than getting hit by a semi that has lost control.) When snow was predicted, I was up bright and early to see if I would have school that day--at least the first couple of snowfalls, I was looking to see if we were going to have school. After that, I just got ready to leave early, unless someone called me to tell me otherwise. Seems this district NEVER canceled school.

Many a day I drove there over roads that had barely been plowed. I often had the feeling as I crested a hill and looked down to the creek below, that I was skiing in my car. It was beautiful, quiet, and not particular scary...until others would marvel at the fact that I got to work! One day I made a stupid mistake and passed the snow plow--don't ever do that. Yes, I made it that day, too, but playing snow plow with a car just isn't a good idea.

I'm sure you have good snow day memories. I hope this post stirs a few. Love to all, and God bless.