As I trudged out to attack the latest snowfall, I tried to imagine a time when snow was just snow, wonderful, beautiful snow. When it was not business snow, fallen or manufactured to entertain skiers. Or, problem snow needing to be shoveled or pushed off vehicles or melted with salt and sand to make sure no wheels in our fast-paced culture ever had to slow down.
Surely I'm wrong, but it seems to me that even children don't have fun with snow anymore – outside of organized activities.
And I can't remember the last time anyone mentioned making snow ice cream. I made it as a child in Meridian, Mississippi (yes, indeed, Mississippi. Snow. In the '50s.) And in East St. Louis, Illinois. Snow, milk, vanilla extract, sugar. Stir, freeze.
No longer a luxury item, store-bought ice cream can be bought by anyone now, even people as poor as my family was. Besides, many folks nowadays think it'd be foolish to eat snow off the ground.
Finished with my shoveling and starting to get cold, I paused just before going back inside. I couldn't resist; the heavy wet snow was perfect. I picked up a handful and formed it into a raggedy ball. Then I wound up my throwing arm and pitched a perfect strike down the center of a great big birch.
Posts
Hey Lee,
ReplyDeleteWhat fun to read-----and remember how wonderful the snow 'ice cream' of my 50's childhood in East Central Al. Even now, on the rare occasions when enough falls I just have to make a bowl.
The forecast for tonight is snow/sleet/rain. I can handle it all except the dreaded ice.
Maybe your snow will all melt soon and you can see your beautiful paths again.
Spring will come, thankfully, and we'll all be ready for it.
Hey, Barbara, you'll be all set if you can stay off the ice and enjoy some snow cream sitting by a warm fire. Indeed, I'm counting on some meltage, as weather changes by the hour, it seems.
DeleteHey, Lee,
DeleteOh, well, snow went all around. I'll have to wait for another snow fall, if it happens.
Then it would be good to try Laurie's snow candy, which sounds delicious!
Stay warm!
Well, the way the weather's going, you'll have another chance for snow before you know it.
DeleteWe did not make snow ice cream, but we made snow candy when I was growing up. It was just maple syrup dripped onto the snow, and when it hardened, you could pick up a chunk of maple flavored snow and eat it. Most of the fun was the sheer joy of having a whole snow blanketed backyard for our culinary efforts. Ah, memories. Snow is still a delight for me, I have never understood the snowstorm anxiety all over the news with each storm.
ReplyDeleteGood arm. I assume the birch struck out.
Laurrie, thanks for another delicious way to eat snow.
DeleteDon't get me started on the weather guessers and their hyperbolic reports that drive some people to clogging the grocery stores in search of the white stuff: milk, bread and toliet paper.
Yes, it only took three pitches; the birch got caught looking.
You might hear me whine a time or two but I do like clearing that first snow of the season. The 20" we had last month was a dilly. I can't imagine not shoveling a path or clearing the drive. No one around here clears their sidewalks. I am amazed at that. I often wonder how they think their mailman can deliver the mail. Hmmmmm I didn't make snow cream. I sure have made lots of snowballs though.
ReplyDeleteLisa, I can't imagine leaving all the snow where it falls either; there's something therapeutic about clearing snow -- once you get started. Good exercise, too.
DeleteI grew up in Buffalo, New York and memories are of snow, snow and more snow which at times reached above the garage roof. We played with sleighs over at the old university campus. I was not much of a fan though... These days my daughter (the hockey Mom) adores tobogganing with her children out in Alberta. They build igloos when the right kind snow falls too. My granddaughter has been known to roll in it in her swimsuit, before jumping in the hot tub. I haven't yet heard of ice cream making though.
ReplyDeleteThere is the true fear though of car accidents. Last week the family rolled their vehicle due to invisible black ice on the road. All is miraculously fine, but we are still shaken.
Wonderful post, as usual Lee. You capture the mood so well!
Thanks, Marie. Your recollections and your descriptions of your family in Alberta sound like the best of snow activities. Buffalo: talk about snow. Like Cleveland, where I survived the '70s.
DeleteThere are families with young kids on our street, and I can assure you that at least some little kids still have fun with snow. For me, however, the older I get the more snow seems to be a tiresome nuisance, and less of a wonder.
ReplyDeleteJason, it's good to know there are still some snow kids around. Here's hoping they enjoy it mightily before they tire of shoveling it.
DeleteWe made snow ice cream in Houston when I was a kid. My friend's mother was from somewhere up north and showed us how to make it once when we had a rare snowfall.
ReplyDeleteLater when we lived in colder climates I tried to take time to enjoy the snow. Back home in Texas now I'd have to say I don't miss it much. We'll have 72F and sunny skies tomorrow.
Heyyy, Shirley, why don't you rub it in, as I'm looking at 20 degrees, with a bitter wind and ice on the ground.
DeleteYou know how people love to complain, snow gives them a good cold reason to :) I'm a snow lover: shovelling, slipping, sliding, re-shovelling... But not the snowball fights! Why do boys love to throw snowballs? At least you targeted the birch :) Keep on having fun!
ReplyDeleteHello, snow lover. Fellow snow lover - annnd snow thrower here.
DeleteSnowballs are just fun to throw. Too, maybe it's a kind of safe combat, an outgrowth of playing soldier (though I was a real one). You can smash a projectile upside somebody's head, and nobody gets hurt.
I grew up in a suburb of Boston and my recollection was of much more snow than we get today and it didn't seem to be as much of a big deal. School cancellations were not a given. Even with a foot on the ground you still turned on the radio just to check. As kids we played outside for hours during blizzards and made snow forts in the snow banks.
ReplyDeleteIt's likely at least some of the current brouhaha over snow is the result of the litigious society we've become. As far as I'm concerned, most of the anxiety that accompanies snow-at least during a storm-is caused by having to get to and from work in it. Otherwise I even enjoy shoveling.
More snow is what I remember too, Sue. And lest I sound like an old-timer telling lies, I really did walk to school in deep snow. With pleasure.
DeleteI don't envy anyone's commuting in show. Driving in it has gotten worse because there are more vehicles everywhere, along with too many drivers who don't respect the power of snow and ice to send them airborne.
I am not a snow fan, but I do love snow cream! We rarely get enough snow to even make any---i live in sc. We usually get ice, which by the way, we're expecting this afternoon.
ReplyDeleteHey, Denise. As you get snow so seldom, your snow cream must be a very special treat. As for ice storms, I still remember them vividly from when I lived in Georgia. Far more treacherous than snow. Be careful out there.
Delete