My sister, Silver Valley Girl, just posted a piece about her youngest finishing fifth grade at Kellogg's Sunnyside Elementary. She raised the question if any of her readers had a favorite memory from our days at Sunnyside.My favorite memory happened in the fifth grade. A cold snap hit Kellogg. It was well below zero (F). The sky was cloudless. It was noon recess. It was too cold for the teachers to come out for playground duty. The snow was about a foot deep and crusty and dry.
We boys did something we could never do on the playground: we played tackle football. Our running in the snow and our contact with each blocking and tackling flushed our faces with warmth. We hardly noticed our freezing it was. No one got hurt. We got away with doing the forbidden and we all obediently filed back into our classes when the end of noon recess bell rang.
Football broadcasters complain bitterly when an NFL or NCAA football game has to be played in the snow. I don't. It takes me back to that noon hour scrimmage at Sunnyside Elementary. It was my happiest day.
1 comment:
Third grade, in Spokane, my first and last winter there. I'd never gone to school on a snow day before. I waded to the bus in snow past my knees not believing that the bus would come and incredulous when it did. No one seemed to notice the drifts of white stuff everywhere. All that changed at recess. Cold clear expansive sky, clouds of breath, and what my child's mind saw as a rolling field, perfect for sledding and then another new experience; sleds as standard play equipment. Disbelief turned to joy, and a forever love of that cold white stuff, that energizes the rosy cheeked child buried in us all. Thanks for taking me back!
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