CV&T Lifestyle Editor Tish King

Enough of this foolish snow and wintery stuff—I’m ready for spring! When I see snow and ice I think about my childhood days. 

The road in front of our house was a slight hill, but enough to sleigh ride on. The neighborhood kids would gather on that street and build a big bon fire to keep us warm while we were sleigh riding. Bailey Kelly’s Auto Parts had old junk cars stored on the lot in front of our house and we would sneak in there and find an old car tire to burn for our bon fire. Boy, you couldn’t get away with that today!

I don’t remember ever having all the warm duds needed to be outside in the cold. Sometimes I wore socks on my hands for gloves and put plastic bags around my shoes for boots. I didn’t have a sled of my own, I would use my brother’s or one of my friends.

We would stay outside until we couldn’t stand the cold any longer. Our face would be frosty, and our hands and feet would feel numb long before we would give up and go inside. Then when we did give in and go inside, we would usually have hot chocolate to warm us up. Of course it had to have marshmallows in it. Mmmmm….I can just taste that now!

Later a bunch of us kids would gather at the Neikirk’s house and pop corn or make homemade candy. We would pop a big dishpan full of popcorn and pass it around while we sat and talked and laughed. When we made candy, we would sit in a circle in the living room and beat the candy until it was thick enough to pour out. We would each take a turn beating until we got tired and then we would pass it on to the next one. I remember one time we made pull candy–boy that was fun–we burned our hands once in awhile handling that hot candy. Boy, was that good! Those were the days!

I don’t see kids gathering in bunches nowadays like we did when I was a kid. I guess they have other interests now. They are building a different kind of memory than mine. I hope they have some to cherish as I do.