THE GHOSTS OF WINTERS PAST

                Let's start at my beginning!  


Mom Chip and Me





















 
As a kid in Tatamy, Pa. the snow seemed to pile up like huge mountains. I couldn't even see over the drifts. Snowsuits were articles of torture. Mittens got cold and icy in a hurry (not like todays fancy schmancy ones).  Cheeks got red and blistery and the product of my runny nose dribbled down to my chin.  Such fun.

 Forward to first grade, living in Forks Township.  We lived on a hill and on a curve which made winter drivers our own personal entertainment. We used to sit at the windows with hot chocolate betting whether "he would make it to the top" or if the car heading down the hill would hit the hedges and bounce into another car. We could hear the spinning of wheels into the night.

 My Mom claimed to have a "snow string" and she told her 4th graders (I was one of them) that she would pull it on Thursday nights so we could have a long weekend. Sometimes it worked!  Since we lived on that hill, sleigh riding was a big deal in the winter. We would walk over to the top of the hill, get a running start, flop on our sleds and wowee. What a ride!
Walking back up the hill was not easy but we did it over and over and over. As I got older I would throw my skates over my shoulder and head to an open field in search of a frozen waterhole. Can you imagine parents today allowing their kids to wander in deserted fields near a highway??

 In high school we would have sleigh riding parties. I was mostly terrified since I didn't wear my glasses (they would get all wet anyway) so heading down the hill I was always afraid of making face-contact with a large tree!  I have wonderful memories of skating with friends, dates in the winter where the car windows steamed up, making snowmen, having snowball fights, being all cozy inside a warm house...so let it, as the weatherman is saying it will tomorrow - SNOW!!