Nostalgia for the Winters of Our Youth

I took a sentimental journey recently.

It was easy to do, half-way through an ancient Gunsmoke episode on one of those below-zero days in February. I had already discovered that my options for usefulness were limited when recovering from a total knee replacement.

I glanced outside after muting yet another CarShield ad and suddenly noticed how bright it was outside. Not a cloud anywhere. The sun, hidden by days of clouds, revealed itself at a much higher angle. I had noticed that the days were getting longer but had forgotten how much brighter the noonday sun is by mid-February. Especially with just enough snow to reflect the sunlight.

Mid winter can mean many things. It’s often the peak of the snow season, when conditions are about as good as it gets. If you plan to enjoy the snow, it has to be then or you can forget it. It can melt in a flash.

The cold, clear conditions reminded me of the days I used to cross-country ski. Conditions are important for that sport. You certainly need snow, the right wax for the temperature and preferably a tracked path. It was more enjoyable skiing in zero degree weather than 25 above because you don’t sweat as much. It was truly a good workout as long as it wasn’t windy.

Just Add Snow

It’s been a lot of years since I last skied. My bad knee was part of the problem but in some recent years we really haven’t had enough snow to attempt it. I may try it again someday. This would not have been a good year for it around here anyway.

My thoughts turned to other midwinter outdoor activities I did as a kid. By the time my younger brother Warren and I were old enough to ride on sleds, the available ones were pretty beat up from our older siblings. We salvaged what we could, sanding and waxing the runners, and putting drops of 3-in-1 oil on the steering pin. We duct taped over sharp edges of broken slats.

We did benefit from one thing. Our generation was the first to use cheap plastic sleds that weighed almost nothing. Remember the Flying Disc, the rollup Flying Carpet and the Snow Seat that looked like a small plastic shovel? On a packed-down hill these sleds were fast and, being so lightweight, you could get in a lot more runs.

I wondered what kids have been doing these past two winters with little or no snow. Maybe they don’t do much sliding anymore. When the snow was good we spent as much time outdoors as we could. With all of the hills around here, I think every neighborhood in Red Wing had a sliding hill within walking distance.

But even in the snowiest years with the best sliding conditions, it got old by late February, especially if we got a warm day or two to remind us of spring. That’s all it took for us to start thinking about pumping up the tires on our bikes. We even thought the unthinkable – that school would really end and summer vacation would finally arrive.

The Long Melt

First, of course, we had to endure the usual “long melt.” That meant the sliding paths now had snow, ice and dry patches which will stop you in an instant. We stopped sliding when you could end up soaked if you went through a puddle.

Some years it melted suddenly, creating streams gushing down from Sorin’s Bluff onto East Seventh Street. If it froze overnight we had a lot of sidewalk ice to stomp on and crack on the way to Colvill School. The melting snow revealed lost mittens, hats and even sleds. The lost and found box at school peaked in size by late winter.

Before all the snow melted, we took final runs down Memorial Park Drive. Most of the road was shaded so the snow lasted longer. But even that disappeared quickly. We knew spring had arrived when Memorial Park was opened to traffic.

There came a point when the back yard looked like a war zone. Mud, sleds frozen in ice with rusting runners and broken pull ropes. The occasional glove or hat. Lots of frozen dog droppings. They remained there until Dad made us put away the sleds and rake the yard.

There was always a chance that we might get another snowstorm. Back then, the heaviest snows were in March or even later. But they didn’t last long so it didn’t matter. Spring was now our focus.

I suddenly returned to the reality of another CarShield ad. Maybe it was the same one and my daydream had lasted mere seconds.

At least it was still muted.