Where Love Never Melts and the Snowmen are Free

The snowman’s pipe popping out of the picture like that gives it a three dimensional effect, as if you could put a pile of snow in his pipe. Not that you’d need to — it’s been snowing a LOT. Some of us are tired of it. Some of us are tired of shoveling, or having to get to work in the icy, slushy mess. But some of us are just a little bit happy for yet another day of sledding at Tommy’s Pond. Lots of Saturday sledding pictures below —>

If you were there Saturday, browse below. Maybe there’s a picture of you!

I’ve mentioned this before, but I love watching children playing with their parents.

I love seeing their beautiful smiles too. She looks so happy!

Love this — check out Caitlin taking pictures of David and their daughter sledding.

One reason I love to take pictures when parents are playing with their kids is because it’s hard for dad to see the big beautiful smile on his daughter’s face.

Tommy’s Pond is such a fun place in winter when the ground is covered with snow.

A little essay from me about snow — Love Never Melts and the Snowmen are Free

One night when I was a child, my family went to a pub with another family to have dinner, listen to music, talk, laugh and play darts. It was nearly Christmas and the bar was draped with colorful lights. I was 14 years old and despite the fun everyone was having, I didn’t want to be inside a dark pub. The forecast that night had called for “snow flurries” and all I wanted was the chance to see little flakes falling from the sky, an unusual South Carolina event to say the least, and, being in a dark pub with no windows, if a flurry were to fall, chances were, I’d miss it.

I kept popping out the back exit door where a flood light shining over the doorway and into the parking lot would light up any flurries, should any happen to be falling.

Over and over again I’d push the heavy bar on the door, peek outside in the light, and inevitably, my shoulders would droop and I’d duck back inside to sulk on a bar stool for a few minutes before I’d pop back out again, only to return a few seconds later, dejected.

I know it’s hard for people to understand this mania with seeing a flurry, especially those who live in areas where at least one good snow storm a year is common. Let me try to explain: It’s simple: HOLIDAY!

In South Carolina, snow meant instant holiday. A day off school, a break from routine, a new way of looking at the world.

I was not a happy teenager that night in the pub. All I wanted was to see the snow begin to fall. I did not want to play darts. I did not want to chat or laugh or listen to jukebox music. Why did no one else seem to care about the forecast of snow? Weren’t they excited at the possibility that we might get a night like in the movies when it always starts to snow at just the right moment? All I wanted was to look out the window at the dark sky, praying like a snowman, “Please freeze! Amen!”

My dad joined me once at the door, putting his arm around my shoulder, “Come inside,” he said. “Bet you’ll beat me at a game of darts.” With a heavy sigh and a heavy heart, I took one last look at the still night sky. Nothing.

And finally, it happened. At the end of the game with dad, I popped out the back door, and there in the light, the air was swarming with dancing flurries! My heart skipped a beat and I jumped inside to spread the news. “It’s snowing! Come see! (Thank you, Lord!) It’s snowing!”

Much to my surprise and delight, everyone else in the pub that night was just as excited as I was. Within seconds, the parking lot was filled with people staring up at the sky, arms raised to feel the full extent of every tiny flake. Even my dad, a seasoned man of many a northern snow storm, was thrilled. He enveloped me in a twirl, the two of us swirling and singing and laughing.

And then I moved to New Jersey. We’ve gotten around 30 inches of snow this winter so far. (So far!) And even though it’s getting kind of boring and snow doesn’t mean instant holiday any more, a part me always feels a flurry of excitement when I see the first flake fall. So I have taken a while out of my busy schedule during each storm to stop and play with the kids, hoping that they too will sense my love of nature in a tiny swirling flake.

It is my wish that every child should grow up with a snow memory of one kind or another: Sledding down an icy hill on mom’s back, building a tunnel through a snowman’s tummy with his best friend, or dancing in the light of a swirling snow with her dad.

I would post a picture of my dad and me, if it weren’t for the fact that I was the fourth child.

Happy Birthday, Frostia!

I love it when the kids come down that hill smiling and twirling for my camera.

Do you see it? The grass under the snow? Maybe you can’t see it, but you know it’s there. That’s called faith.

FAVE! Love the little helicopter propellors her ear flaps are making.

Can’t you hear the swishing of the snow?

Sometimes I know who the people are in these sledding pictures, and sometimes I don’t. Wish I could send these people an email so they’d know this really cute picture exists.

Frostia and her beautiful creators.

How can she see?

Well, that’s an interesting sort of family unportrait.

Haha! I just noticed that she has two different color gloves.

This was the Polar Flyer’s maiden voyage. I think David was worried he was going straight into the pond.

I love this picture. First of all, Grex’s friend is getting some great air off that mogul, and in the foreground: his dad and little brother are watching and taking pictures.

Knit hats have peep holes, you know.

FAVE!!!! What a great brother/sister shot!

What happened to the sled? Hmmm.

It’s a little bit hard to see, but he has a knack for flying high off that mogul!

Tommy’s Pond is always the place to be when the hill is covered with snow. I have loved the comments people have been leaving about their sledding days at Tommy’s Pond back in the 1950s and 60s. Truly, were things as colorful then?

Sweet! I just wish I’d closed up my aperture for this one so they both were in focus. Still, I love that wooden sled.

Can I just say this again? I really can’t believe how fast my sons have grown. Cherish the moments of childhood. In the grand scheme of things, it really doesn’t last very long at all.

Remember Frostia? She had a happy, albeit short life. Not long after I took the picture above, the boys had tunneled through her tummy. Fun, fun! Hey, at least they were outside playing and not, um, typing endless blog posts in front of some computer screen, right? If you’ve read this far, leave me a comment so I don’t feel so lonely inside this screen today while everybody in the house is working on homework.

I wonder how far it is to the grass underneath? Ahh, spring. We know you’re under there.

It warms my heart, call me a sap, but it really does, to see dads and moms playing too.

Look how happy she is.

Yay! We finally convinced Caitlin to give the sled a try!

Fun!

I wonder which type of sled is fastest, the Polar Flyer or a thin piece of styrofoam?

David was taking pictures of them from another angle, I think.

Love this one, Caitlin. (Nobody look at her bare ankles, please. She’d just come from the gym and still had on her workout socks and had not planned on flying down a snowy hill.)

I love this picture.

Classic air shot! Love this one!

Yet another daughter/daddy shot that I simply adore.

Ok, now THAT’S a cover shot for sure! Love love love this one!

If I had a picture like that of me and my son, I’d print it out really small and keep it in my wallet.

Love this one too — BOTH kids!

Beautiful!

I just love that little snowman.

No hill for sledding? Build your own, like these kids did! Pile up all the snow from the driveway, sidewalk or yard. Smooth it down and shape in a few curves like the bobsled track. Just make sure that where you land isn’t in the middle of the street.

On the back side, build steps, pack with water that will freeze to give the steps stability.

And be sure when you build a snowman that he gets a little companion snowpuppy. Do you see him?

For more Tommy’s Pond posts, click here.

What’s your snow memory?