A Frozen Pond

A cold snap hit the Abingdon, Virginia area yesterday, but like so many times before this winter, the predicted measurable snowfall failed to materialize. Once again it is shaping up to be "the winter that wasn't".

I remember how we kids had to brave bitterly cold temperatures while slogging through knee-deep snow on many occasions to carry firewood from the barn to the house to keep our family warm for the night. And of course we dreaded having to walk to the "toilet". It was normal back then for our region to receive several significant snowfalls every winter, and there were almost always patches of stubborn snow that refused to melt as it hid in the shadows just waiting for some more to fall - which it usually did. Life was hard in the winter time for poor folks.

But there were plenty of good times too. Like all kids, we loved playing in the snow - and there was usually plenty of it to play in. We made snowmen, went sledding, built "igloos"...all the things that kids love to do in the snow. The cold temperatures didn't bother us when we were having fun!

Yes, the winters were indeed colder, snowier and longer thirty years ago than they are today. Some people blame global warming. Others say it's all part of a natural cycle and that we'll see "normal" winters again when the cycle swings back the other way. Regardless of the cause, I enjoy the milder winters now that I'm older - but I'll gladly take whatever the good Lord gives us as long as He sees fit to allow me to live on His earth.

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