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2016 Home For the Holidays
LINCOLN DAILY NEWS November 23, 2016
I’ve never actually made a snow angel. When
I was young, I already disliked snow enough to
realize that falling backwards into it was a bad
idea. It was always hard to make one during
the first snow, since the first snow is usually just
shallow enough to result in grass strains on coat
sleeves.
The memorable way to make a snow angel is to
mess with it when you’re done. Make the snow a
blank canvas for the angel that fell on it. Give it
a face; give it a halo. Take us back to Halloween
and give it horns.
If I could make a snow angel, I think I would
name him Clarence. Maybe he would come to life
and show me another world. Not another world
without me, mind you; just one where it only
snows on Christmas day and then promptly melts.
That would be a Christmas miracle.
A snowball fight is already memorable for most
children in winter. A good snowball fight calls for
strategy. You have to know what to hide behind,
and just how packable the snow will be. There’s
nothing more disappointing than throwing a
snowball that literally falls apart in mid-air.
When I was a child, I had grand plans for
snowball fights. I wanted to build massive forts
and hide secret stashes of snowballs. I wasn’t
one of the mean kids, and I didn’t try to get ice
involved. For any children out there, please don’t
do that. It’s all fun and games until someone has a
black eye.
My plans never worked out for snowball fights. It
took time to build a snow fort, and I always had
more fun designing the battlefield than being on it.
If I have any advice on snowball fights, it’s this:
be part of one, if you can. If you have children
and they want to play in the snow, go with them.
There is always time for the first snow. Besides,
like everyone else, they will eventually learn to
hate the snow. We might as well make their early
memory of winter a good one.
In the meantime, I will stay inside for the first
snow, as I always do. I will make my own
memories of staying warm and dry inside for as
long as humanly possible. I would ask you to join
me, but only if you wipe your feet first.