Halcyon Days of Winter

Twinkling lights
Warm glows
Fireside hot cocoa
Listen to the radio
Hold your breath waiting to hear
The DJ say
No school today

Lie on the snow blanket and get hypnotized
By flurries dancing before your eyes
Be an angel before you rise
Then make your snowballs to surprise
Your friends as they pass by

Hide out in your igloo
Or hit the slopes with your inner tube
Snow drifts
Ski lifts
Snowboarders showing off cool tricks

Off to the lake
To fish or skate
Lick an icicle to rehydrate
Join in the broomball game
Play til the Wolf Moon begins to wane

Snow plows cleared the way
Back to school, but that’s okay
Because here comes Valentine’s Day
Shoebox mailbox
For cards and sweets
Shy smiles and blushing cheeks

Look outside! Can I believe my eyes?
Swirling flakes, grey skies
Arctic blast, get home fast
What’s the forecast?
School tomorrow? Place your bets
Old Man Winter’s not done yet

Things That Cling

Every morning I take my dogs on a walk, and every morning I step over cracks so that I don’t break my mother’s back. Sometimes I will see a penny and pick it up so that all day long I’ll have good luck, but only if it’s heads up.

When I get back home, I pack up and get in the car to head to work. At least once a trip, I’m mouthing at other drivers, “no cuts, no butts, no coconuts.” Sometimes I also have to use sign language to get my point across.

Oftentimes at work, a lot of my clients say they “never got my email,” or they “followed the steps, but the computer made a mistake.” All to which I exclaim, “Liar, liar! Pants on fire! Nose is longer than a telephone wire!”

As the sun sets, I walk the dogs again and look for the stars to start their shift. I’ll say to myself, “Star light, star bright, first start I see tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight.” I can’t tell you what I wish for, ‘cause then it won’t come true.

After dinner and sitcoms, it’s time to put my daughter to bed. She tells me I’m her best and that she loves me. And I say, “I’m rubber, you’re glue. Whatever you say bounces off me and sticks to you.”

Field Trips

I’m a ‘Been There, Done That” kind of gal, so I’m usually looking for new things to do, or ways to make old things new. However, I make exceptions when it comes to sharing previous experiences with my daughter. There are so many things I’ve done that I think my daughter would also enjoy, so I make it a point to recreate some of my childhood experiences for her.

I had such an opportunity this past weekend while she and I were back in Connecticut visiting family. We arrived on a weekday, so while my relatives were working and in school, I decided to take my daughter on one of my childhood field trips. I was about her age when my class took a field trip to Mystic Aquarium. She and I love sea animals, so I knew she’d be game. Sure enough, she had a ball running alongside the beluga whales, clapping along with the sea lions, and petting the stingrays. Afterwards, we went to Mystic Pizza where I could reminisce more from my childhood. Then we shopped around and got some ice cream, because that’s just what you do in a town like Mystic.

Baby Beluga!

Field trips from childhood are definitely worth repeating with your own children, especially if you no longer live in the town where you grew up. It’s fun to go back and take in what has changed and what has withstood the test of time. After so many years, an old experience was practically new, and just as fun. Next time I will stay longer so that she and I can take field trips to the Mark Twain House and Sturbridge Village.

What were your childhood field trips?