Do You Want To Build a Snowman?

Where have all of our traditions gone? What great pieces of our past have been lost. What is stored in the proverbial attic hidden away from our sight? The magic of our past can be unlocked and shared with a new generation simply by recapturing some of the things that brought us enjoyment and helped pass the time. Of course, this was before our imaginations and initiative were hijacked by digital pirates.

Wintertime holds a special magic that only Canadian kids can truly appreciate. The week before Christmas brought a quick freeze of many ponds and lakes, and rendered mirror like patches of perfect ice. As a child, this signaled pond hockey season, where after-school games amongst friends,  could spurn the imitation of your favourite teams and players from the latest edition of Hockey Night in Canada. Endless hours would result in dull blades, frozen feet, and beet red cheeks. We all remember those wooden toboggans that gave way to aluminum versions, only to be surpassed by the crazy carpet.

As I recently read, a friend mentioned that he had not seen a single snowman anywhere in his travels this winter.  The first wet snow would ensure that a carrot nose would be retrieved from the front lawn after giving way to heavy mid-winter storms. Snow forts were cool and snowball fights ensured a strong pitching arm in the spring. An old pair of wooden snow shows would allow passage in deep snow no matter the mission. Maybe it was in search of the perfect tree, the attempt to snare a rabbit or an escape from a noisy house that was dominated by older siblings.

These were simple times with simple tasks or adventures, that taught valuable lessons. The type of lessons that classrooms nor books could teach. These were skills that bread character that the rest of the world admires as being uniquely Canadian. We prayed for snow days, similar to today, but the by-product was a day of Olympic style adventures that could only be interrupted by the sacred ritual of supper time. If you missed that, there was consequences and hunger. No microwaveable instant solutions to poor planning and neglect. You paid the price and the accountability made you aware so it would not reoccur.

This is a missing element of today’s society. A lost tradition that produced results. The instant solutions have produced harm and impacts that have long-range effects. We spend money we don’t have on things we don’t need with the illusion that the tooth fairy will leave an increased credit limit under our pillow to smooth out the rough patches. Pay as you go has been replaced with play with no dough.  You can’t build the snowman in the middle of the living room no more than you can spend someone else’s money with no plan or strategy to deal with the debt. Both cases leave a mess for someone else to clean up.