December in the Northeast

We had a dusting of snow today with more on the way tonight and tomorrow. It gives me pause to think about snow days and sledding on the hills at Willard School. After the first run it was easy but that first ride was always an adventure, fraught with peril which delighted us no matter how cold we were feeling.

A good snow also meant snowball fights. These were usually harmless but we always participated with our parents' voices of caution in the backs of our minds. I never saw much more than a bloody nose in any of the "fights" I watched or participated in as a kid. Even the years with heavy snows which had consecutive hours of fights, and many armed camps of grade school children battling each other. The most intense were held when I was in the 4th grade and we teamed with the 6th grade against the 5th grade. The guys in the 5th grade that year (class of 1976) were a tough bunch who didn't care who they were fighting. This is not to impune the toughness of the 6th graders, only to point out that the 5th grade that year was always ready for a good snowball fight.

When we were not fighting there was always the much appreciated art of building a snow fort. These sometimes lasted for days, and were sometimes sacrificed in a dispute with a rival group, or simply demolished for fun. It all depended upon the mood at the moment and the need to get back inside to warm up.

Snow lastly meant in the 1960's, before the ubiquitous presence of snowblowers, making some money by shoveling neighbor's walks and driveways. This was easy money if the snow hadn't turned to ice, but it was hard work if the temperature dropped. The people who couldn't shovel usually didn't know the difference between ice and snow since they most likely hadn't left their homes that day. They always bargained hard, and since we usually didn't state a price before we started, the bitter cold days always worked to their advantage.

Truth be told in my younger days, making top dollar was not our ultimate goal. The goal was to complete the transaction, grab the money, and go spend it. Sorry if this sounds unsophisticated, but clearly we were and we didn't ever stop to think about it. These facts make these reminiscences all the more memorable. I will personally never look back in anger at these business mistakes, to quote Yeats, "when I am old an grey and full of sleep and nodding by the fire." I chalk it all up to experience and to a simpler time in America.