After the last big storm we had, as I was sitting in my arm chair in the living room, I looked out the window and saw to my chagrin, about a 6-foot snowbank and no way to see the street. Some would say that this would pose a problem but then again, there was nowhere else to put the snow from the walkway to the garage.
I guess you could say it was give and take — Mother Nature gives and I take.
Through all this, I remembered back to the days when the power poles were at least 10 feet shorter than they are now and we got more snow than now. At least it seemed like it. Now, I know that we have all heard our grandparents tell us that “back in the day” they walked to school summer and winter, uphill both ways through five feet of snow. And I am sure that the youngsters of today have heard how the snowbanks were so high we had to duck under the wires to get to the front yard at home.
Now I am not sure if the first story was true as when I started school, I rode in a 1953 International bus and was thankful for that. The second story however, was true. Because of the snowfall and the winds that drifted it, we had all kinds of places to dig tunnels and build snow forts and, yes, even to use the sleds and such that we got for Christmas.
When all this snow piled up I can remember sitting in the living room where I grew up on the Mapleton Road and thinking “Wow, this must be what it’s like in a prison yard, walls all around.”
Ricky and Don and I used to have hours of fun on the banks and drifts. Young people today think we had it so bad back then. I am here to tell you today that we had it made. Yes we worked after school and Saturdays and during school vacations but we were outside most of the time when we weren’t working. I know now that that was why we always felt well and could do what we did.
Ahhhhh the good old days! Those days are long gone for me now but at least I can sit back, relax and remember when …
Next time I will tell you what my favorite time was when I wasn’t working during those days.
Guy Woodworth of Presque Isle is a 1973 graduate of Presque Isle High School and a four-year Navy veteran. He and his wife Theresa have two grown sons and five grandchildren. He may be contacted at lightning117_1999@yahoo.com.
