Short Story

Snow Job: Sharing My World

Nancy's Notes 🖊️🎶

Written for Share Your World 25th November
where Di has asked some questions about snow.

© Pinterest

1. Do you like snow?
That depends. If I am watching a snowfall from inside with something warm to drink and a fire in the fireplace, then the answer is “yes”. If I’m outside and a light snow suddenly starts falling, then the answer is still “yes”. However, if I have to spend more than a few minutes outside in freezing temps, the answer is “no”. The older I get, the less I enjoy cold weather. I never learned how to ski or ice skate. Since I now have arthritis along with osteoporosis and I’m considered a prime candidate for breaking a bone, I don’t take risks walking on snow or (unseen) ice. I’m a good driver and there isn’t much on the road that frightens or bothers me except poor visibility and hazardous driving conditions, both of which occur during snowy weather. I will drive during a snowstorm if necessary but it’s not my favorite thing to do.

2. Did you build a snowman as a child and dress it with coal eyes, a carrot nose, etc?
Sure! When we were kids we weren’t bothered by the weather. Blazing summers or freezing winters … it didn’t matter. We’d play outside for hours. My mother was a professional seamstress so we always had plenty of scraps of material to dress our snowmen and women, and lots of buttons for clothes and/or faces. I don’t remember using coal for eyes; we’d use either rocks or buttons (sometimes bottle caps) and often we’d use raisins to make a big smile. Always a carrot nose … that was a given! And one of my dad’s hats, too. A scarf and mittens would complete the outfit, and maybe a pair of sunglasses just for fun.

3. Did you have snowball fights?
Absolutely, we did! We used to get a lot more snow than we do now. We’d build snow forts and store our snowballs inside. There would always be teams fighting against each other and we’d hide in our forts, popping our heads out to lob a few snowballs at the “enemy” before ducking back inside for more ammunition. There were always a couple of tough guys who liked to play dirty by putting a rock inside their snowballs. Not funny! Time would fly by and our gloves would get stiff and crusted-over with snow, our fingers frozen to the bone, but that didn’t stop us. We’d play in our forts for hours until our moms called us inside. Then we’d take a hot bath, change into our pjs and huddle around the TV watching Lassie or Superman and drinking hot chocolate, our faces flushed and slightly chapped from a day in the cold fresh air. At night we’d sleep like logs, dreaming about the next snowball fight.

4. Did you have a sleigh?
No. Santa had a sleigh. We had sleds … a Flexible Flyer classic wooden sled. A group of us kids would walk to a snow covered hill or unshoveled street and ride our sleds up and down for hours. Again, the cold never seemed to bother us, even with the wind whipping our faces as we flew down the hill. Back then, there weren’t nearly as many cars as there are now and we never worried about playing in the street or sliding down a massive hill right into the middle of the street. Lots of times the police would close the streets off so that the neighborhood kids could play. That’s just the way things were back then … easier, simpler and a lot of fun. There was never anything or anyone to be afraid of. It was great being a city kid growing up in The Bronx, NY. A lot has changed since then.

Thanks to Di for preparing an interesting Share Your World. 🌍

NAR©2024

This is “Frosty The Snowman” by Ella Fitzgerald

Share Your World: 25th November

All text, graphics and videos are copyright for Nancy (The Sicilian Storyteller), The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephant’s Trunk and The Rhythm Section and are not to be used without permission. NAR©2017-present.



34 thoughts on “Snow Job: Sharing My World”

  1. Pingback: Snow Job: Sharing My World – legacy

  3. Man, there is NO snow compared to back then. Jeez. We used to have 3-4′ high snowbanks. We had snowmobiles and used to leave right from our house, cross the street and ride along the train tracks until we reached the field and joined the trails. Now? You’d have to put the snowmobiles on a trailer and drive for two hours in search of enough snow!

    Sorry… I got carried away there. What a fabulous response to the challenge, Nancy. I fear I too have become wimpier to the cold as the years advance. Sigh…

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    1. Believe you me, Toots! I’m not complaining about the lack of snow! We have a long driveway and we shovel our own property (unless the kids across the street come over). It’s a royal pain the the ass, especially now that I’m not allowed to shovel (bc of the surgery) so Mr Bill is on his own. Thankfully, we have great neighbors who pitch in but it’s still a drag.

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      1. Yeah. No. Time to get Bill a snowblower. Even if he only uses it once a year!
        I pay to have mine removed. Some years it feels like I’m wasting my money but it takes that one doozie and I think, nope. Worth every penny!!

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