Life in a Northern Town

I couldn't pass up the chance to have some good ole' fashioned recreation in the cold last night. What's the fun of having snow if you can't use it, right?

After picking up a pair of new ski pant bibs at the store, I bundled up my 5-year old daughter and we set about enhancing the snowy scenery outside. Though the sun had already gone down and dinner was inside waiting on the table, Hannah and I happily spent our time together digging out a small snow city consisting of two snow forts, with a connecting tunnel in between, and a pair of lounging "chairs" for us both to relax in afterward. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough snow to complete the Eiffel Tower or Great Wall of China portions of the project. But I hear we may have more snow in next week's forecast (no surprise here) and we'll begin that phase of construction when the materials arrive. My daughter even mentioned the possibility of hiring out her 3-year old brother for part of the upcoming task. She's so conscientious.

Once during the fabrication phase, I heard Hannah yell "Alp!" and turned to see her gleefully sink to her elbows in a big pile of wet snow I'd shoveled only hours earlier. "What Zermatter?", I asked. She didn't get it.

Now I have to drudgingly admit, I'm a sucker for classic hits from the 80's. In fact, my iPod has a plethora of playlists devoted to this decade of big hair styles and over-the-top fashion. One in particular, Dream Academy's "Life in a Northern Town", is a favorite of mine. And while I was outside last night, simply living in the moment with my daughter, this song kept playing over and over in my mind, reminding me of when I was young and of times spent in the snowy northwoods of Minnesota with my father ...