Winter Time Memories (and who does not have those??)

A chilly morning out here in the land of enchantment.  The skies are turning that dark shade of winter blue.  I KNOW there are those of you who are so tired of snow and that "certain shade of blue".
  That "blue sky" reminds me of home.  Mom cooking at the stove, 3 bleary eyed children, staring into their bowls of oatmeal and that "blue, winter sky".  We somehow manage to get dressed for school, head out to the back porch/mudroom, each complaining about having to wear galoshes to school.  "They hurt the back of my legs."  (and they did, they were hard rubber/plastic and as soon as that winter wind hit them, they hit us back).  We walked out the backdoor and immediately started searching for the snow that had been frozen over during the night.  I loved to walk on top of the snow.  I was a short kid, (now I just think tall). From my frozen tower, I felt like some caretaker of the land - able to see things from a different perspective and enjoy this look as if from a tower.  The world all dressed in a brilliant white.  Whooosh, the frozen snow gives way and now my boots are filled to the brim with snow.  hmmm.  The dilemma....remove my boots and shake out the snow or continue on, reaching school with no feeling left in my feet.  Teresa seemed to just be on a mission - I don't remember her stopping to help me - she just marched on.  Of course, her boots hit her about at knee level.  She was shorter than I was, so her boots really were a help. She can tell her own story.
It's been a many years since I've walked any distance on top of iced over snow.  Past the lilac bushes and the maple tree - a train whistle blowing in the distance.  Walking through our set path, between houses and chain link fences and crossing the "big" street (1st) street right by the 'creek'.  Sometimes we'd meet up with friends, other days we'd walk together.  I wonder what we talked about?  I see in my faded memory laughter and other times tears and other times - just enjoying the walk.  We walked 7 blocks, 4 times a day.  From kindergarten through 6th grade.  It was a rare occasion one of my parents picked us up from school. It was our routine and don't think we gave it much thought.
This morning made me remember our long Kansas winters.  We built a lot of forts, made stacks of snowballs and usually ended up in the house, crying, because one of the boys hit us too hard with their super-hard packed snowballs.  I liked to just make tracks in the snow with my boots.  Sometimes the night time snow fall let my trails covered, yet I could still see my work.  I had been there,  My time in the snow was not erased.  That was comforting.  Like seeing my mud pies the day after I made them.  I had been there.  My work remained.
Growing up in the heartland, I wonder if the farmers felt like that.  The farmers planted wheat or other grains and as theses fields filled up - they too knew they had been there and they were producing a harvest for others to use.  Now, no one used my snow paths or my mud pies - but I had produced something - even if it was for myself.  It made me feel good.
Whatever you are doing today is leaving an impression - either on you or on others.  It's important to glance back and see where you've been and know you are present in this day - making another mark.  Don't forget to plant the seed of kindness as you are walking along.  That makes more of a difference than my boots ever did in the snow.
love you,
kathryn
p.s. i didn't mention this one time.  It was Wednesday after church.  All of the kids were running and playing in the parking lot (we could talk for hours about this....an unlit parking lot, with ice and snow...). 
I went over to our car.  There, all freshly iced over, the car door handle.  Just waiting for me.  uh huh, i did.  I stuck out my tongue.  It was like a very powerful magnet and I was stuck. It is very hard to scream when your tongue is stuck to a car part.  I just stood there, looking down at my feet, wondering how to escape the door handle.   I did what any intelligent...(I was proving by the moment how intelligent I was) person would have done - I ripped my tongue from those icicles and the car door handle.  Never mentioning this to my mom or dad, on the ride home, I had toilet paper stuck to my tender tongue. These are thing you just didn't tell adults, they wouldn't understand. (right?) So, if you want an icicle, break it off the roof of some building.  And how many times did we did that??! Yuk!