Stay Alive, Never Grow Up, With Child-Like Joy, Wonder, Excitement and Expectation... Forever!

Wednesday,
we
received
a
little
late
evening
snow
flurry.
It
was
totally
unexpected.


I was sitting at my Mother's dining room table, working on her bank statement. I kept on working, but my spirit was feeling all kinds of wild things... while my kids, fully grown, were outside, acting out those wild things, that my mind could only think of doing, in that particular moment of time. That's my boys! Mama did good!

It doesn't snow much around these parts, here in South Carolina. When it does, it makes a really big impression because, mostly, it hardly ever sticks. Here today and gone, not tomorrow, but usually the same day.












I remember a few years when it did stick. The snow storm of '73, for instance. It snowed so much that my best friend AND my boyfriend got snowed in at my house. And my brother was dating my best friend, at the time. This was a tragic situation, to say the very least. My boyfriend couldn't go home? And neither could my best friend? It was truly a perfect scenario, for the sweet age of 19.

You have to understand. We have very little road equipment, for dealing with snow, down South. Back then, we had next to none, save a few good farmers who volunteered their time and trackers, to go down the road, clearing away a little snow. And all kinds of good samaritans, volunteering their 4-wheel drives to help out, where needed. In the rural South, snow equipment isn't even really needed, because it just plain old doesn't hardly ever snow. I can say, however, that when I was a child, we used to receive at least one ice storm a year, but global warming has about ended that once very Majical sight. You'd have to see a long leaf pine, with each individually long and slender pine needle, enveloped in a Shimmering sheath of ice, in order to appreciate what I mean... then, imagine a whole yard full of those Sparkling Jewels of Creative Wonder. Beautiful!

Here is what happens, in my town, when we get a little snow. If you happen to be a little kid in a classroom, and whose mind has quite naturally wondered away from the chalk board, finding oneself gazing lazily out the window, it only takes spying a couple of flakes, to have the whole classroom rushing to the window, excitedly watching the snow build into a steady momentum, one snow flake at a time. And it works the same way, if you happen to be a big kid, too, whose mind has temporarily drifted away from a boring day at work. Suddenly, everything is on alert! All school buses are stopped, and parents must arrange to pick their little ones up. And yes, businesses start closing, early. And you can bet, there won't be any school the next day, and nearly the entire town will be closed down, too. Everyone tunes into the local radio and television stations to hear the list of closings, hoping and praying that theirs is on the list. It usually is.

It's fun around here, when it snows! It's like automatic time off to play!

When it started snowing on Wednesday, I was unable to break away from what I was doing, but my youngest son, age 25, was about as excited as he could be. His new girlfriend, however, came back inside, "He's acting like a little kid out there! It's cold, I'm staying inside!" I was a little disappointed for him. Actually, sad would be a better word to describe the emotion, realizing that she didn't have the same playful spirit that he possessed. Will she be able to learn this all important secret to a happy, continually youthful, spirited life? I don't know, it may be too late. One can only hope. But, before you know it, my son was back inside, but this time he had my eldest son in tow, along with my youngest granddaughter. They were about to be having some serious fun!

It's a fact that, sometimes, my two sons have bitter and ridiculous ego clashes, and they had been caught up in some unpleasantry over the Holiday Season. It was small, as all ego bashes would have to be labled small, just because they're so ridiculous to begin with, and don't deserve any highly rated acclaim. A lot of tadoo about nothing worth wasting energy over. Nevertheless, it was enough to have kept them bickering back and forth, incessantly, for weeks. It was such a wonderful realization to see how quickly disagreements can be forgotten, when people can allow themselves to stop taking themselves so seriously, for just a fleeting moment, and feel the Joy in being innocently playful, when a little snow begins to fall. What an awesome thing that a few snowflakes can do, around here, to lessen the very real tensions that egos create. Too bad it can't snow all over the world, all at the same time. Who knows? Would war soon be over? Alas, I don't think it is the snow, exactly... more, the sense of child-like wonder, that some have, perhaps, never truly known. And, sadly, never will. No fault of anything, other than, often, a matter of unfortunate circumstances.

To carry the story further, the next morning, I went to drop off my son's car payment. As I enter, my old friend greets me, "Hey, did you see the snow yesterday?" she excitedly asks. "Yeah, I sure did!" And I related the story of my two sons having had such a wonderful time enjoying themselves, just acting like little kids. And then she told me her own story, with her own son. He, too, had been running around outside. "And he's 30 years old!" she exclaims. I knew her amazement, there, because my eldest is 30, also. She begins her sharing, "Mama, come outside, you've gotta see the snow!" She already had her jammies on, and was in her sock feet, so she told him she would just step out onto the deck. "Come on out here, Mama," he continues to plead, "you've gotta stand out here, in it!" She tells him that she can't come down, because she has only socks on her feet. But, that isn't working, her son just can't stand it, "Come on, I'll carry you out here!" Then he joins her on the deck, proceeds to pick her up, and carry her into the snow. Then, with his arms around her hips and waist, he lifts her straight up into the air, and encourages her more, "Look up, Mama, look up into the snow." I can just see her, in my mind's eye, with face aglow, rapturous smile, eyes crinkling, as she gazes upwards, and snowflakes flying wildly everywhere... some, gently kissing her face. It was one of most beautiful pictures that I've imagined, in quite some time. A true moment of the Heart... based on Joy, Love... a bond between a mother and a son... child-like wonder... and playfulness!


Try to make Snow Angels, every chance that you get. You will be Blessed, I promise, with Joy and Laughter!