Paul's Heart

It Is Time For Snow

Growing up in Eastern Pennsylvania, I feel that I saw my fair share of winter snow.  I cannot tell how much we got every year, but there are countless photos of me playing in the snow with my sibling.  One year, we clearly had enough snow that we could buil a huge igloo/cave couresty of those red plastic snow brick makers.  Of course back in the day, before we worried about car seats and seat belts or bike helmets, we also built our snow forts in the streets often between parked cars.

If you lived in the northeast your entire life, the chances are pretty good that you grew up hearing the tales from your grandparents of the struggles of getting to school in the winters, walking miles upon miles, uphill and downhill, and of course, barefoot through snow waist deep.  There were no such thing as snow days.  “Kids today.  They’re so spoiled.  They don’t know how good they have it.”  Sound familiar?

For those of us who attended school in the Allentown School District, you know what I am about to say is true.  The distance from my home near South Mountain Junior High School to William Allen High School was around four miles.  It was definitely up hill no matter which way, and across this huge bridge at 8th Street.  Our school district also happened to be one of the only districts without school bus service.  To get to school, we either walked, had mom or dad drive us, or took public transportation (which actually took longer to get to school than walking).  So guess what?  There was no such thing as a “snow day”.  It took a blizzard on February 11, 1983 for me to remember an actual “snow day” resulting in the schools closing.  Of course, the local Catholic schools would close at the sight of the first snow flake.

At 46 I occasionally bring this story out as a joke amongst friends, but really have no intention of using it as a tool with my daughters.  As a parent I definitely have a different outlook as I wait for their school bus to pull up as it is more than 20 minutes late, sidewalks flooded with slush and the streets appearing very icy.  The weather forecast had called for the snow/rain mix and my faith was in the girls’ bus driver as the district chose not to release the children before road conditions got bad.

Normally I would be excited to see the white precipitation.  Just a month ago, Madison actually asked about learning to ski.  I have not been on my skis since before we adopted the girls, and since my heart surgery, really thought I would never hit the slopes again.  My skis have been stowed in the closet upstairs since the day we bought the house, me being afraid to push myself with an adrenaline rush swooshing down snow covered mountains.  For Madison, I need to relive those times way back when I walked through three feet of snow, four miles each way up hill and back.  At least the way I tell the stories I had shoes on.

So with our first snowfall today, I opened up that closet door to show Madison my ski equipment.  Her eyes lit up and her excitement was obvious.  All we need now is some more snow.

Green Wednesday

Ah, Black Friday.  The most important day of the calendar year for retailers.  The focus of our Winter holidays has become all about the biggest sales and the earliest times that sales begin.  I remember as a child, I just looked forward to Thanksgiving for two other reasons.  It was a long weekend off from school.  And it also meant the start of the Christmas season with all the Rankin/Bass holiday claymated shows (I am really surprised with computer animation that these shows have not been re-animated).

As an adult, every family Thanksgiving dinner began the same way, plotting a strategy to hit the stores for bargains as early as six in the morning.  As years went on, the time shifted earlier and earlier that at one piont, our dinner concluded this year, with a starter’s pistol to signify the departure on Thanksgiving night.  The majority of us remaining would not even know they had left as we were now glued to the television set for the third pro-football game of the day.  Ah yes, good times.

For me, this holiday weekend means a lot different to me.  Being married to Mrs. Kringle, I will be spending a lot of time in the green.  No, not money.  Bushes and trees.  Since I have no depth when it comes to creativity and design in decorating the interior of the house, I do the outside.

When we first moved to Sugar Valley, the darkness took quite some time to get used to.  With all of our wiring below ground, we had no street lights.  Our neighborhood was unique in that for the most part, the development was all original homeowners.  Wendy and I were one of the first of the second generations to move in.

Getting back, the neighborhood was fairly conservative even when it came to decorating for the holidays.  This was not going to do for Christmas Wrapping Wendy.  So we introduced ourselves to the neighborhood with a bright idea, literally bright.  In a page right out of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, I decorated the outside of the house with every light we owned.  Two holly trees, a maple tree, a firebush, an oak tree, and a whole bunch of shrubs, the fence, 2 light posts, both awnings of the house, around the garage door, and a couple of lawn ornaments.

In the next year, a couple of our neighbors added to their wreaths with some net lighting and other outdoor Christmas ornaments.  And just last year, not to be outdone, one of our neighbors built a 30 foot cutout reindeer.  On Christmas Eve, the majority of our neighbors will continue a tradition that has existed long since before we moved in, putting luminaries along the curb.  The task of coordinating this display has changed hands a few time over recent years, but it remains one of the coolest displays of neighborhood bonding.  With near maximum participation, it is a spectacular sight to pull onto our street and see all the luminaries as far as can see.  For the last several years, our daughters even believe that Santa uses these lights to guide his sleigh to our house.  This is why no matter what, rain, snow, wind, sleet, Madison and Emmalie make sure I get out and light those candles.

So it is official.  Thanksgiving has come and gone.  It is Christmas Time.

Inspirational Lyrics – “Man Against The World” by Survivor

Man Against The World by Survivor

Have you ever walked the night alone like a man against the world?
No one takes your side, a boat against the tide.
When your faith is shaken, you start to break,
And your heart can’t find the words.
Tossed upon the sand, I give you a man against the world.

All the people cheer till the end is near then the hero takes a fall.
They’ll drag you through the mud.  You’re only flesh and blood.
Oh I’ve walked the path from dark to light and have yet to come to terms.
Alone I take my stand,I’m only a man against the world.

But love!
Like a distant reminder, it tugs at my shoulder,
It calls me home.
I shout!
Can a single voice carry?  Can I find santuary,
Within your arms?
One day when the answer’s clearer,
One day when I even the score,
You’ll reach and you’ll find me with you,
Right beside you, forever more!

But for now I walk the night alone, like a man against the world.
A brand new day will shine, through the avalanche of time.
Though the road is long, but the feeling’s strong,
And the fire within still burns.
Alone I take my stand, I give you a man against the world.