Back when I was a child, people didn’t complain about snow the way they do now. We are Canadians and snow happens. I’m sure it helped that most people work and shopped not far from where we lived. My parents didn’t have a car until my father retired. My mother had a cart that she would wheel from our home to the market and back again. When we were small, she’d leave us home and the neighbours would keep an eye out for us and when we were older, we’d be out roaming the streets looking for friends.
Winter was a special time. We’d gear up in our snow boots, hats, gloves, snow pants and parkas. The first task was to clear the sidewalks and driveways but once that was done, we were free. We might spend all day sliding down the few hills in the area. Those kids who didn’t have a sled would plunge downhill on their bellies or backs. The deeper the snow, the better. We’d build forts and have snowball fights. One day I came home with a black eye as one particularly rough and tumble neighbourhood lad had put a rock in his snowball. My mother looked it over and when my father asked what happened, she said, “it’s just what boys do.” Snowfall was a new adventure every time.
It isn’t just that kids don’t enjoy the snow we did now, the things we had aren’t available to them. In the fall, you’d see the snowsuits in the windows. Now you really have to look for them and when you do, they’re not roomy enough to wear the volume of clothing we did as children. I miss the joy of snow for kids today.
Frank – 91 – Windsor
Picture from the Suburban.ca.
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English (Canada)