Do you remember what snow days were like when you were a kid? I do. Some of the best days. I remember climbing onto the roof of my parents garage and sledding off into the big snow bank on the neighbor's side. I remember building an ice skating rink in the back yard and putting on skates and skating on what felt like I imagine it would be like to roller skate on a hard packed gravel road. I remember building a fort on my parents deck that started out as a big pile of snow that we would make even if we had to transfer every inch of snow from the yard. My brother Steve and I would then dig out the inside of it and put what we dug out on top of the pile. One year we made a fort, squared off the top and poured water over it and then made walls around the perimeter of the roof like a castle. The only access to the roof was through a hole from the first level. I remember one year, after an epic, wet snow fall building an 8 1/2 ft tall snow man in our back yard with the help of our neighbor friends. We were in the Kalamazoo gazette for that one.
We had snow ball fights that would last for hours. I remember many trips to Timber Ridge or Bittersweet ski resorts. Once I was in College, the snow days consisted of dune sledding and the occasional sled on a tow rope behind a truck. Any vehicle would suffice, really. One trip consisted of a mini van full of guys, 6-8 inches of new snow, my brother and I on separate sleds towed behind. We were up to about 40 mph when we hit the snow bank recently left by a plow. I wish GoPros were a thing back then. It was awesome.
I see and hear people on social media and in person complain about the snow and how awful it is, daily. Maybe they forgot how to play. Maybe they never did. Maybe they grew up...
I remember many a sledding adventure in Crane Park. Sometimes at the tennis court and sometimes back in the woods where the trees are a hazard,... like the time I nearly missed my friend Carson Patchell on the way down a hill and smacked my head on a tree. I had 5 hours of amnesia. True story. Ask Carson... Or my mom. Now my kids sled there, with me, and my GoPro.
Don't grow all the way up. It's not worth it.