Can you come out to play?

Hi neighbors. Anyone up for a snowball fight? Yes, it might be cold, but it beats sitting around watching the kids have all the fun.

Children always find a way to turn almost any situation into a fun time.

While you're groaning and moaning about cleaning off your sidewalk, putting on your hip boots to clean off the car then dig it out; think back to when you were ten years old.

Even shoveling the sidewalk was fun then.

Particularly if you were doing it the same time the other neighborhood kids were cleaning off theirs.

The best part, of course, was knowing that a snow deep enough to need shoveling, probably meant a 'snow day' away from school.

If there was enough snow, you could shovel it all to one side, then move the mounds of snow around to form a snow fort. Frozen fingers didn't even feel cold while tons of snowballs were being formed and carefully stockpiled behind hastily made snow walls.

Other neighborhood kids were scurrying to complete their forts too. All were built as close to the street as possible so snowballs could be sent flying across the way to the other yard's fort.

If your best buddy lived next door, you could cooperate in building a fort to rival any wooden one of the old frontier.

Given enough time, snow, and lack of attack, even snow castles could be constructed.

While the girls were making snow angels and snowmen, the boys were at war. Later, while the girls were called in to help with supper, the Dads came out to see what was keeping the boys busy for such a long time.

More likely than not, if at least two Dads were out, they joined in the fight with more or less enthusiasm. It wasn't long after the Dads joined in that the game would be up. I guess the boys got tired of hearing the Dads give advice on how to properly conduct a snow-war.

The boys might actually come in a good fifteen minutes before the Dads would.

Mom would spend most the first few minutes 'tut-tutting' the snow they were tracking in and the amount of moisture on their coats, mittens, pants and shoes. She would hover, run them to their bedrooms to put on dry clothes, and hang wet clothes all over the kitchen to dry. If there was a wood stove anywhere in the house, the coats got hung behind it and the wet shoes put under it.

Are these 'good-old-days' memories? Or is it still like this at your house?

It's just amazing to me how children can play in some of the worse weather. I guess it's just the nature of children to accept their environment and make the most fun out of it they can.

As we get older, maybe that's what makes us feel old. We stop playing and just complain. We want things simple, all roads flat and straight, all days sunny and warm, all nights clear and well lighted.

No running up steep hills, no skipping in fog and jumping in puddles during a rain, no chasing lightening bugs through dark lawns. We don't do that any more. Maybe it isn't all due to lack of intent or interest. Maybe we just don't have the knees, shins, hips and eyes for all the fun things now!

We should invent ways to play as we grow older. OK, so maybe we can't do all the physical things we did as children; but we can still do some things to a lesser degree.

Can't run and throw a snowball at the same time? Clean off the porch swing and stockpile some snowballs on the seat next to you. When the neighborhood kids come out to play, or that old man who walks his dogs every morning, challenge them to a snowball fight. You might want to take the lid off the trash can to use as a shield.

Afraid to lay down in the snow to make snow angels because you fear you'll freeze in place before you can get back up?

Use spray paint made from food coloring and water in those plastic spray bottles you bought to wet your hair down with to paint angels in the snow. Don't forget to leave the spray bottles filled with paint in the garage though when you're done so you don't use them on your hair by mistake -- unless you're going to a Halloween party sometime soon.

Until the next time friends remember, don't just sit around remembering the good old times -- go make some new ones.