After days of rain and much anticipation, the snow finally arrived. I was sure we wouldn’t get any snow today since the temperature didn’t drop below freezing. It was in the low forties most of the day and finally the temperature dropped into the thirties and beautiful white flakes graced our skies after four in the afternoon. It snowed a few hours and in our neighborhood, it still looks like a pretty white blanket covering bushes, trees, sidewalks and yes, the roads. According to the television, Lynchburg, Virginia received over four inches. I am sure children are cheering – schools are closed tomorrow and many businesses have delayed opening until mid-morning.

I don’t know what it is about snow that is so exciting. After all, it causes inconveniences, delays and hazardous driving. And yet, the mere mention of the fluffy white stuff takes me back to my childhood. Playing in the snow, freezing fingers and toes, riding the sleigh downhill with friends and family. Coming inside to a nice warm house, smelling of just baked cookies, hot cocoa and homemade soup simmering on the stove.

My thoughts returned to my grandparents home in the Midway section of Vinton, Va in 1964. I spent every weekend with my grandparents, since I still had not gotten used to the idea of living with Mom and my stepfather in Garden City. (Just a few miles away but to a child, it seemed like we had moved to the other side of the world.) Of course, my preteen aunt, two good friends and two cousins made trips to stay with my grandparents even more enjoyable – especially when it snowed. We had a great hill for sleigh riding!

It snowed that weekend. Wonderful, beautiful, fluffy snow. My Aunt, cousins, friends and neighbors had a wonderful time building snowmen and riding sleighs down the steep hill. When we came back inside, however, the aroma of that house will forever be ingrained in my memory. Granddaddy had cooked that day. Pinto beans, fried potatoes, cornbread, slaw and Granny had made my favorite cake. To this day, that fragrance takes me back to that day.

I wasn’t thrilled to leave on Sunday afternoon when Mom and Jerry came to pick me up but then Mom reminded me that my new cousins, Pam, Donna and Tammy were coming over to play. What a day!

It seems like we had a lot of snow in the sixties – or perhaps it was just a lot of wonderful memories!

Hope you have a beautiful, snowy, memory-making weekend!

Blessings,

Kathy