Do You Remember?

Do you remember when the first snow of the season caused excitement? Do you remember racing home after school to grab your toboggan or sled and be the first at the sliding hill? Do you remember how good that hot tea or cocoa tasted that your mother made you when you came in from the cold? Do you remember not being able to feel the end of your nose and how your feet were numb? Do you remember wearing plastic bags on your feet inside your boots because your boots leaked, but how it didn't matter because everyone else did too?

Do you remember trying to make the world's biggest snowman and how hard it was to lift the top ball in place? Do you remember drying out mittens and hats and boots over the floor registers at night so they would be ready to wear in the morning? Do you remember the sound of the crunching of snow under your boots and how when the sun hit the crust of the snow it made it sparkle like a million diamonds?

Do you remember walking ever so carefully on the top of the snow banks, trying not to sink in them? Do you remember neighbourhood snow ball fights? Do you remember that still hush early in the morning after a blizzard the night before? How the entire world is blanketed with a soft cover of white?

Do you remember sitting by the radio, holding your breath, waiting to hear if your school was cancelled for a snow day? Do you remember sitting by the wood stove and keeping your toes warm on the hearth? Do you remember frosty windows that you could breathe on and watch the frost return with ever beautiful designs? Do you remember sleigh rides and the jingle of the bells on the horses?

Do you remember stealing that kiss under the  street light and how good it felt to feel those arms around you even through all those layers of clothes? Do you remember how nice it was to walk together bundled up against the cold and how you didn't even care what the weather was like as long as that person was beside you?

What do you think about when you see that first snowflake of the season? Do you groan and complain or do you remember a simpler time when the first snow was a time of excitement? What do you remember?