Frosty Day in Germany, Eisiger Tag in Deutschland

Frosty Day in Germany, Eisiger Tag in Deutschland

If you live in a warm clime, you may only remember the icy pains of winter, the car that won’t start, the secret prayer for a snow day, and forgetting the beauty of glass-like icicles, or the delicious crunch of frost under your winter boots, and fields so bright with snow you have to shade your eyes.  Maybe you’ve lost the childhood wonder that makes you stomp frost until you can’t find anymore, or the startling crack of icicles when you snap them off the eaves.  Pity you! 

I still have clear memories of playing hockey on dark and icy streets, or fighting through the rough brush of a forest to find ‘Secret Lake,’ for more hockey.  Then there were the early morning stomps through knee deep snow to deliver newspapers.  Too much snow and ice?  Hell, no! Winter was an adventure, a calling, a private place where no adults dared to go.

But, why keep these long held memories of pleasure to myself?

Let me return you to the frosty days of your youth, with fields that beg for a sled and crisp mornings of frosty breath, when your mother dressed you in enough sweaters, jackets and gloves to equip the Russian army.  Have even a vague memory of rosy cheeks, and begging to stay outside with night falling like a dark curtain?  Remember those skate edges you kept sharp as razors?

I don’t care if you call me child-like, or make fun of the Christmas sweater my mommywife made me wear.  My tears will dry…or freeze. 

Nope, don’t have a sled, but when I see frost or snow, I grab my camera, skip breakfast and stroll until my icy toes beg to go home, and my cheeks share the carmine glow of a matron’s rouge. 

I happily snap away….only photos this time, not icicles.  And night is a time for sleeping, but still, I have that child-like yearning for just one more frosty day…