Snowed In

Posted on January 24, 2005 1 Comment

There’s nothing like a snowstorm to bring out the child in all of us. The wonderful sound of newly fallen snow crunching under a thick-soled boot is inevitably followed by laughter, giggles and chuckles from adults and children alike. This weekend, as I ran errands on foot through high winds and piles of snow often up to my knees, I observed this phenomenon not only in myself, but in the brave souls wandering the streets of Oak Park – the dogwalkers, the shovelers and the young-at-heart.

Try not to smile as your cheeks turn pink, your hair turns white and you slip-slide along the narrow grooves in the path. Try not to smile as your arms flail, your glasses fog and your shoes fill with snow, chilling the ankles and numbing the toes. Try not to smile as your teeth turn cold, freezing your gums. Try not to smile as you anticipate a steaming cup of creamy hot chocolate. Try not to smile, I dare you.

Every native Chicagoan complains about snow, sludge and slush. It causes us endless problems – our cars stall, our backs ache from shoveling, our clothes fill with salt stains below the knee. But secretly, most of us love a good snow (at least for a little while, especially on the weekends). We wait for it all winter – a chance to bring out our inner children, to run, leap and frolic in the white stuff. “Snow angels” may exist as more than silouettes on the lawn, I think.

As I reflect on the weekend gone by, I think it may have been one of my favorites in a while. I didn’t spend a lot, didn’t really go anywhere, didn’t do much in general. The simple pleasures of home kept me feeling content. I finished my latest book, learned to play chess, cooked, caught up on sleep, did some cleaning, fed the birds. To combat any chance of cabin fever, we journeyed to the grocery store (for rations), to our best friends’ house in the neighborhood for a game of CatchPhrase and then Trivial Pursuit and once to the neighborhood pub for some fantastic chowder and a stout.

To some, this may sound pretty boring. In fact, to my summer self, this would sound like a terrible waste of a weekend (those living in a one-climate location may not fully appreciate the sentiment here). But this lazy, snowed-in weekend spent with a loved one and friends, offered a welcome chance to catch up with my “inner child” – someone I haven’t seen in a while. The smiles still haven’t stopped.

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