Missing Winter

It snowed in Columbus today. Briefly. We had about an hour of flurries this morning around 10:00 am. The flakes stuck to the ground until around noon, and then they melted away into memory.

Compare and contrast today's grey day in Columbus with the grey and white landscapes of the Parks Highway connecting Fairbanks with Anchorage only last weekend and you have the difference between the retirement home of a sickly Old Man Winter and the magical grandeur of Santa's palace--or so as I would envision and imagine.

The sad thing is that here, in Columbus in January, kids are growing up without memories of building snow men and snow forts or snowball fights and making snow angels and slogging through feet of snow to bus stops or to home or school or a neighbor's house. Kids are missing seeing birds flock to bird feeders or playing with their Christmas puppies in snow drifts or chasing rabbit tracks in a freshly fallen snow; and then coming home to Mom's Hot Cocoa or Chicken Noodle Soup.

It's not right that winter is hiding out in Alaska. It's only with winter that we can truly appreciate all the seasons. And it's only with winter and the wonder of freshly fallen snow that those of us who grew up with it in the first place can relive those precious memories and even be kids again, if only for a little while.

Just back from Alaska it's all pretty clear to me. When the snow stopped this morning and disappeared before my eyes I just had to look up at the sky and ask: "Are you kidding me?" It doesn't have to be bitterly cold to be winter; but it does have to snow. Even a blizzard, every once in a while, is a great excuse to stay inside with the family and keep warm by the fireplace. And after every blizzard ends, the magic of playtime begins with all the snow toys Mother Nature so generously lends us. "Walking in a winter wonderland" indeed.

Thanks for reading.