Snowbody’s home…

VIEWPOINT

By RALPH HARDIN

Evening Times Editor

Well, you can’t say Mother Nature didn’t deliver the major league snowstorm as promised. Although it started later on Thursday night than originally advertised (unless I missed a few flakes, I didn’t see any snow until around 11 p.m.), it definitely arrived overnight and lasted well into Friday, blanketing the landscape in what most folks who enjoy such things as “The Good Snow” as far as the eye could see.

I have always loved snow. It happens rarely enough around here to still be special when it does happen, and I have fond memories of playing in the snow as a kid with my sisters and my cousins and my friends. I also have plenty of snowtime funtime memories of playing with my kids, from the time they were little to just last year when my daughter was a senior in high school, so yeah, I’m among those who like the snow, even

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though I hate the cold. The snow, in my book anyway, makes up for the cold. Otherwise it’s just cold for cold’s sake, and that’s no fun. And like I said, this was “The Good Snow,” perfect for making snowballs and snowmen and snowcream and snow angels and whatever else you can think to put “snow-” in front of.

But, alas, as this weekend’s winter wonderland stretched across the neighborhood, I just watched the fluffy white flakes fall wistfully to the ground to join their brethren on the big white blanket from my front door window…

For you see, for the first time in 40-something years, there wasn’t anyone for me to play in the snow with.

Yep, all my kids are grown up now and off doing their own things. I was happy to see they were able to have their fun in the snow with their people but I was on my own.

Sure, if I pushed, I might could have cajoled my wife into reluctantly going outside and making a half-hearted attempt and making a snowman or something, but she hates the cold more than the Wicked Witch of the West hates buckets of water, so I did not.

Instead, we sat around the house. My wife got to be off work on Friday thanks to the snow, so we had a whole day to just do whatever, which mostly consisted of laundry and watching the last season of “Yellowstone” on TV, but that was fine.

A while back, I saw a thing on the internet somewhere that said, “One day, you’ll look around and there won’t be anyone left to drive to practice.” And I get that. And I guess you can add, “One day you’ll look around and there won’t be anyone left to play in the snow with.

I do have a little bit of hope.

I’ve got a grandson who is definitely a potential snowbuddy, but he’s not off to a great start. His Dad, my oldest son, took him outside Friday, and he, to quote my son, “absolutely hated it… wanted nothing to do with the snow.”

Like he couldn’t even get a “Baby’s First Snow” picture.

We’ll have to work on that…