The first snowfall of the season was welcomed by kids when I was growing up. It opened up a brand new playland. If the temperature was above 20 degrees, it was warm enough to be outdoors, especially if the sun was shining. We were aware of frost bite and bundled up.
We slipped old, bread wrappers around our shoes before pulling on our rubber boots to protect our feet from the snow spilling in from over the tops of the overshoes. Sometimes, by the time we finished playing outside, the snow was packed so tightly into our boots, we needed an adult to drag them off.
Sleds were hauled out of sheds. As a farm kid, sliding down a hill in a large, shiny scoop shovel was a topsy-turvy adventure.
Snow angels were made by lying on our backs in the snow and moving our extended arms back and forth to form the wings.
If it was a wet snow, snowmen could be constructed by rolling three balls of varying sizes and piling them up. Coal briquets were added for buttons and a face.
At school, we tromped a Fox and Goose track, a giant spoked wheel. For the game similar to tag, a fox was chosen and the rest of us were geese. As the fox caught a goose, he or she was sequestered in the hub of the wheel. The last goose caught became the fox for a new game.
For a snowball fight, kids were divided into two sides and forts had to be built.
A few of us had skis and learned to balance on those pieces of wood while zooming downhill. Two poles helped keep us upright.
Shoe skates, which were bought a couple sizes too big so they would last several years, were dug out of closets. By the time we had snow, the temperature had been below freezing long enough to make thick ice on ponds and river backwaters. Some towns flooded an open area to provide a skating rink.
Did you enjoy the winter weather when you were growing up?