Planting Seeds“Winter Wonderland”
As a child, I loved winter. I loved making snowmen and snow angels, sledding, having snow days off from school, drinking hot chocolate, and wearing the crocheted scarves my grandma made for me. I loved running around in the snow with my St. Bernard, complaining when my mom called us inside from playing for too long out in the cold.
As an adult, winter has a lot of negatives: snow and ice make driving hazardous, the price of natural gas to heat your home is expensive, snowstorms are a cause of worry and stress instead of something positive, and you have to worry about frostbite.
Although this winter has so far been mild, I’m always worried about the next blizzard and polar vortex. I wish I could go back to the days of praying for a large snowfall overnight and eagerly listening to the radio for school closure announcements, cheering when my school’s name was listed.
Education during the COVID-19 pandemic and the rise of virtual learning have changed how schools handle snow days. Most schools have done away with snow days entirely, choosing remote learning days instead. Students have Chromebooks that allow learning to be done from home, and teachers use virtual classrooms and file sharing to make learning accessible from anywhere.
However, that takes away from the magic of snow days! Having a full day off with no schoolwork, no homework, and the potential for another day off the next day was a highlight of my youth. I loved having extra time at home to rest, relax, and enjoy being a kid.
A sad fact of adulthood: adults don’t have snow days. We have work regardless of the weather. Snow is no longer seen as a reason to celebrate, but as an unpleasant hindrance as we go about “adulting” our daily lives.
This winter season, I plan on enjoying a little bit of the magic of the winter of my childhood. I’ll take a walk in the snow, go ice skating, maybe even make a snowman. Although snow will undoubtedly be in the forecast, I’m looking forward to this year’s winter wonderland. After all, to quote Elsa from Disney’s “Frozen,” “The cold never bothered me anyway.”