Snow!!!

And it SNOWS!!!
I love snow! 
Yes, I know
It’s cold
It tends to make the roads slick to drive on
And it is sometimes treacherous to walk on
I know it’s miserable to have to get out in and go to work
I know how hard it makes it for those who work outside
And what a mess it makes when tracked into the house
Or the horrible slushy mucky mire it is when it starts to melt
But I love snow! 

Thru all the years of Rick being grumpy when it would snow - 
I still love snow! 

I know when it snows I will get “that” phone call from my son - 
(He’s like his daddy, you know, lol)
He will complain
And I will laugh
He tells me how crazy I am for loving the snow
And I answer with “It’s so pretty!” 
Doesn’t matter if we get a snow once a year, or once a week! 
The same snow-call ;) 
And yes, I love it! 
I love the snow-call more than I love the snow! 

So many memories flood my mind on days like this
: living on that acre in the Brinker Community, when we lived in the mobile home on the backside of Rick’s parents’ place
- one year we got so much snow at one time that the kids were able to go out and build a snowman! 
- I had hot chocolate ready for them, with extra marshmallows
- potato & broccoli soup cooking with cheese added
- fresh bread baking in the oven
- cookies were on the table
- another “kid” came over and ran our kids thru the snow till they looked like snowmen!
- Rick was not so grumpy that day. But he was hovering over me in the kitchen. A hug. A kiss. A pat on the butt. Sharing a cookie. Teasing. Laughing. 
- and all the while old rock and roll playing in the background.
- oh what a wonderful day that was!!!
: living on Dickie Prairie Road out of Molalla OR
- when it snowed there it meant time for the woods!!!
- bundle up, hats, gloves, boots, coats and scarves
- pile into the old truck and lumber up the mountain
- find a grove of trees and take a long walk until our noses were so cold we couldn’t feel them
- pile back into the truck and go to the house
- undo ourselves while we stomped the snow off on the porch
- hot chocolate was made and enjoyed
- and then we would play a game, or watch a movie
- treasured memories of wonderful days!!!

: when Rick was driving a truck and I was his navigator, we found ourselves in New York on a cold & snowy winter’s day
- and since the roads were too bad to be driving, we were on lay-over at a truck stop
- I do not remember the town we were in, but I remember clearly the time with Rick 
- just to sit in the warmth of the restaurant and enjoy a meal, no rushing needed or required
- then the snowy walk back to the truck for a nap, a conversation, a little time on the computer or watching a movie
- walk it back to the truck stop and do a little shopping
- 36 hours of laying over in the 12” of snow! 
- good times, good times!!!

: then after the kids were grown and on their own with their families, and we lived in the old family house in Brinker Community
- Rick was gone off on the truck delivering milk
- I was at the house alone
- the heaviest snowfall that we had had in years, the winter of 2011
- I kept the wood brought in, and the fires fed
- not so much laughter then, lol
- but Rick was glad to walk into a warm house, with the potato soup ready to eat
- and I was so glad to see him walk in that door, stomping his feet on the back porch, unwinding from the coat, hat and gloves
- I still can feel his cold nose on my warm neck, hear my squeals, and know his arms holding me close.
- oh Rick! I miss you on the snow days. 

: and then, when we lived in Homedale, Idaho, in our RV. 
- the RV was 8x26 ft. It wasn’t big enough to have everything Rick wanted, lol - so he contracted with a tent maker. And a 10 x 20 ft elk hunting tent was added to our RV. The canopy was removed and the frame for the tent was set in place. The elk tent was then attached to our RV with the snaps and pulled over the frame. The front of the tent was in 3 sections, independent of one another so that we could roll up one or all 3 during the summer. We had a window in one end, and a man door in the other end. 
We could open the 2 doors on the RV and it was just a step up into the RV from the tent. 
Rick put a camp stove (oven included) in the corner. We put down 3 room size rugs for the flooring. Added a swing that also made a bed, and a chest of drawers. 
Rick called it our “redneck double-wide”, lol. When going into the RV he would always say I’m going “upstairs”. LOL 
We LOVED the whole set up!!!
The only problem we had with it was when it either rained, or snowed. And the top of the tent, in between the frame, would stretch with the weight of the rain or snow. We would have to take a broom each and work the rain or snow off the roof to the edges so that it would not cave the tent in. It snowed A LOT in Homedale, Idaho. Just saying. LOL 
Spring, summer and fall we kept the front sections rolled up more than not, so we had this huge “canopy” that we lived under. 
One morning it was 4*, so Rick built a fire in the wood cook stove and went outside the tent to feed our dog. In about 20 minutes it got so hot - 91* - in the RV that I had to call Rick on the phone and ask him to come open the tent door and window to allow some of the heat to go out! 
Maybe the reason I love the snow so much is because of the memories. 

I can remember when I was a kid growing up, we were poor. 
So poor that when it would snow, we didn’t have boots to wear, and our socks were kept for “special occasions” - like church, or for me, school.
Momma and I would put the plastic bread sacks on our feet, then wrap our feet in old towels, and she kept large rubber bands to go around the middle of the foot and the top of the towel on our legs. 
Off we would go to the barn. 
Hog still needed slopped.
Chickens needed fed.
And cow needed milked.
Besides, we had an outside toilet for day time use, and pee-pots for night time.
There were times that Momma’s heels were so raw and cracked that they left tracks of blood in the snow. 
Yes, bleeding so heavily as to soak thru the bread sack and towels. 
I used to walk behind Momma crying for her. 
But she never uttered a sound. 
Often I would try to cover over the bloody tracks so Momma wouldn’t have to see, nor would anyone else. 
I remember when we would get the chores done and back in the house, we would undo our feet and hang up the towels for the next time.
I would wash Momma’s towels out while she put water on to heat at the wood stove. 
Once the water was warm enough, we would wash our feet 
Then I would take a slimy concoction and rub it on Momma’s feet, 
Looking up at her, I could see the tears streaming down her face, but never a grunt or groan did she make. 
I would then take a warm towel that had been hanging beside the wood stove, wrap it around her feet so that it helped the concoction to soak in. 
Momma never complained about a snowy day.
She always made potato soup on those days, and after we ate, before the next set of chores, we would quilt.
Oh the stories she would tell while we sat around the quilting frame! 
Before dark set in, it was time to do the chores again. 
Even those memories are treasured now.
I learned a lot just watching my Momma live her life. 

Snow day memories flood my soul.