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Softly a single snowflake twirls down to the earth and lands sparkling on the tip of my nose.  I could smell it before it happened, that strange craze that falls over Columbus, OH whenever there is a hint of adverse weather.  I head out of work and mentally prepare myself for the ridiculous drive home.  Normally, I enjoy the drive home, especially if it is a semi-warm day out.  There is something about driving with the windows down, the sun light warming the earth and making the road shimmer.  I am the girl who would go everywhere with wind in my naturally curly hair… as long as there is sun and music playing.  I wouldn’t think twice about how hard my hair is to detangle, just feel the breeze, and sing along with the music that is playing.  This is what happiness is.  Unfortunately, I knew that kind of drive home was not in store for me.

For reasons unbeknownst to me, Columbus does not know how to drive if THE SUN IS NOT SHINING.  This phenomenon is new to me.

I grew up north of here in a small town called Adario.  Adario is as country as it gets.  There is nothing here, not even a post office.  All mail had to be addressed to Shiloh, OH, which was 11 miles away.  I lived in Adario until the summer of my 5th grade year (1990) and we got some nice snows.

I spent most of my winters outside, playing in the snow, having imaginary Alaskan adventures.  My brother and I would sled down the banks of the pond using homemade sleds.  We were very inventive when it came to sledding.  Sleds from our childhood were made of sleeping bags, Slip ‘n Slides wrapped around your knees, cardboard boxes, and old plastic Pepsi signs gave us the speed we craved.  When we moved to Willard, OH, I discovered pizza delivery bags were the perfect sled, followed closely by inner tubes.  My brother and I would also build tunnels and igloo apartment buildings in the drifted over banks off the pond.  I was always fascinated by apartments and never knew what they were outside of the TV.  Now I am fascinated by houses.

I remember it snowing so much that the snow would pack and pack upon itself until the snow was hard enough to walk on.  That was always the coolest feeling, so much cooler than walking on the pond when I knew was OFF LIMITS.  Yes, I was rebellious even then.  My all-time favorite childhood winter activity was my snow art.  I never was into snowmen, but I loved to paint the snow.  I would sneak into the kitchen and borrow the food coloring, then I would find a spot that an adult wouldn’t normally travel to in the snow and I would make food coloring snow art.  It was very abstract and vibrant, and only for me.  I loved how depending on the snows texture the different ways the food color would mix in with the snow.  Often I would finger chisel out different areas for depth and shading.  Diluting the food coloring with water also made impressive shades.

The winters up north were always long and snowy.  On most years, we would go over our allotted snow days and have to extend our school year to make up for missed days before summer officially started.

Growing up in this snowy environment, I definitely learned how to drive…  IN ALL WEATHER CONDITIONS.  I guess it helped when there was nothing close to wreck into except for a ditch, which was filled with snow.