Snow! Really?

A little earlier today I saw a photo that one of my friends in Monticello shared on the internet. It was big, beautiful flakes and I think the kind that drift lazily to the ground and wait for their companions to join them in making the landscape a fluffy, white wonderland.

Oh, when we were children, the glimpse of that first snowfall was so welcome, so exciting! We loved to play in the snow, making snowballs, snow forts, snowmen, snow tunnels. To us, the more snow, the better. We even loved to take our little shovels outside and help clear a path to the doors and clean up the driveway. Here you see Jim plowing out his and Mom's yard back in the early 60's.

Oh, yes! Snow is something that can entertain children for many delightful hours in the winter time. We loved the great outdoors, anyway. Every season had its joyous adventures. In the spring and summer it was the wind and flying kites. And it was watching birds build their nests and following the cattle around the pasture. It was smelling the apple blossoms and watching for the strawberries to ripen. It was "Hide and Seek." It was "Cops and Robbers". It was playing "Tag". Our fun was only limited by our imaginations and the weather. We couldn't play outside in a thunder storm. But there is absolutely nothing like putting on your swim suit and running outside to play in the mud puddles. (After all, the driveways weren't paved back then! In the fall it was potato harvest, autumn leaves, carving pumpkins!

But back to the topic: Snow. The photo you see here was from the late 40's. Left to right are cousins Andrea, Lory, and me. We are on our grandfather's snow scoop and we found it delightful when he or another adult pushed us around the yard once the work was done! The two dogs, I think, felt a lot of responsibility for us. "Puppy" on the left was Andrea's and Lory's dog. And "Brownie" belonged to our grandparents.

I am not sure when it happened, but over time I lost my adoration for snow and winter time. Oh, I still love the changing seasons but for me a month or less of snowy weather would be fine! We used to go outside in the snow with our children and grandchildren but to be honest, I would rather watch out the windows and take photos to save the memories!

Here, through a window, is a photo of Isaac, taken about 65 years later on our back deck! He wanted to help his great grampie shovel the snow. He loved every minute of it! Things are so different in some ways, but so unchanged in others. The snow, the child, the shovel, the dog! There is a sweetness to it.

In thinking on these things, I am reminded of the Scripture in Genesis 8:22. ""While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, And cold and heat, And summer and winter, And day and night Shall not cease."
These changing seasons are evidence that the Lord is faithful! They are blessings from HIM. Thank you, Lord!