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Feeling like a kid again

3 min read

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My son loves the snow. Unfortunately, he has been in the group of youth who don’t really remember too many great snows.

Still, when an old, non-working snowblower was given to him, he fooled with it until he got it running. He hooked the snowplow to the side-by-side WEEKS ago, just in case. And when he awoke to nearly 10 inches of snow mid-week last week, he was virtually giddy with excitement to take the dog out in it for the first time. With school being online, he was able to enjoy it.

The weather remained cold enough that the snow lingered, and on Friday, he elicited a promise from me to sled ride with him on Saturday morning.

On Friday, it sounded like a good idea.

Saturday morning, I was a little more apprehensive, but I kept my promise. I put on two layers of clothes, heavy socks, muck boots, and gloves. I trudged through the drifting snow out to the side of the yard where there is a little hill, carrying the plastic disc we planned to share.

My son took the first turn. He went about 25 feet through the snow before coming to a stop. That was expected, with the snow as deep as it was. Then I took a turn, forging a few extra feet ahead.

Turn after turn, we made a longer path. I was grateful we were taking turns, as I needed an extra minute or two to catch my breath at the top of the hill each time. Finally, we made it to the bottom of the yard.

Any farther, and we were likely to shoot over the four-foot wall onto the road in front of our house. (I went over that wall once – backwards – on a lawn tractor. It was not fun, and I do not desire to repeat it.) We agreed to bail off before we got there, to avoid any major injuries.

Each slide down the hill made me feel like a child again. The wind blowing through my hair and the spray of the snow in my face temporarily transported me to a simpler time. Even our puppy got in on the action, joining me on the sled for half a dozen runs down the hill.

After about 40 minutes, I figured I had had enough. I took one final ride with the puppy before heading back to the house.

It was only then that I began to feel the truth of the matter: that I am indeed not still a child. Faster than I peeled off my wet clothes, I began to get stiff in my neck and shoulders. By the time I found dry sweatpants, I had two big bruises welling up on the back of my legs. And before the tea kettle had heated the water for cocoa, I had a cramp in my back that required the heating pad to work out.

I’m a fool for that kid, though, even for his love of snow. If we get another storm like this one and he asks me, I’ll likely do it all again.

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