Snowballs & Tunnels

They’d spent yesterday clearing paths for both front & back doors—no mean trick when the snow was over eight feet deep before they even got started. But Penny & Ralph had made a game of it.

First, they hauled both ice chests in from the garage. They were rather large, intended for tailgate parties, & pretty much stretched across the entire back of their pickup. With four sturdy wheels & a handle, they could pull it like a wagon—or back it up, which is what Ralph did, right to the door. Timmy parked his out of the way in the kitchen.

In the meantime, Penny & Rose found gloves for each of them. Penny kept asking, “What do you think Daddy’s gonna have us do?” Neither of the kids had a clue.

Dad began scooping snow into the ice chest, pausing every once & a while to allow Timmy & Rose to level it with their freshly gloved hands. They wanted to fit as much snow as possible.

When the first ice chest was completely full, Penny closed the lid, pulled it through the kitchen to the basement stairs, then held on for dear life as she eased it down, one step at a time. Upon arriving at the bottom, she took it to the far side where she set its back against the cement wall.

Ralph had Timmy back the second chest in & they repeated the process. This time, Dad brought it down the stairs having Timmy & Rose follow behind, carrying their parents’ gloves. He set his chest on the opposite side of the unfinished room mirroring Mom’s.

Ralph looked pretty pleased with himself as he asked, “Okay kids, which do you want? Mixed teams or boys against girls?”

“What are we doing?” Timmy asked.

Ralph said, “Ask your Mom,” making an ever so casual gesture in her direction.

As the kids turned to their mother, her face lit up. “Snowball fight!”

How cool is that? The floor & walls were all concrete & there was a drain in the far corner, so—game on!

Both kids jumped up & down, clapping their hands, & shouting, “Boys against girls! Boys against girls!” And so, the tradition of the annual indoor snowball fight was born. They had so much fun they got a second load & did it again.

With their third load they did something different. They made snow people. Why not?

After that, they filled only one ice chest & put the other back in the garage. Ralph had broken through the top of the snow which meant the blizzard began blowing inside. Time to close the door & don the cold weather gear. Once he was fully armored, he turned to salute his three comrades, then marched through the door to face his snow.

This delighted the kids. Penny found it amusing as well. Then, she clapped her hands together & asked, “So, who wants a snow cone?”

Rose & Timmy looked at each other with wide eyes & shouted in unison, “Yeah!”

Mom gathered their plastic cones, large scoop & all their favorite syrups & set them on the table. No need for the ice shaver today. They had all they needed right there.

She opened the ice chest, grabbed the scoop & a plastic cone & began serving. She filled all four, propping the last two in the ice for Ralph & herself. Then she asked, “So what would you like?”

Rose wanted red. Timmy asked for a combination: blue raspberry, red cherry, & light green apple. She prepared pineapple & tangerine for Ralph because he almost always asked for it, & watermelon for herself. She stood his up in the ice chest & closed the lid to keep it cold.

They sat at the table, recounting their recent exploits in the basement, telling stories, & laughing a lot. They were almost finished when Ralph came back in & sat down to join them. They made sandwiches for supper & watched their second movie. Rose barely made it, but she didn’t fall asleep until she was in her father’s arms, carrying her off to bed.

Everyone slept soundly through the night, peaceful & content.

Ralph woke up later than usual, but long before anyone else. Not wanting to disturb Penny, he allowed the tiny lamp in the hallway to be his only guide to the kitchen where turning on the light wouldn’t bother anyone. With the house so quiet he could easily hear the generator running.

“So, we lost electricity. I’m certainly glad we have you, ‘cause I need my morning coffee.” Vanilla Biscotti was his choice for the day. He wasn’t sure which he liked better: the smooth taste or the intoxicating aroma. But he knew it would provide a gentle & lovely start to Penny’s day. He grabbed the bread & butter, slipped a couple of slices into the toaster, then fetched the strawberry preserves from the fridge & a pear freshly picked from the trees at the office downtown the day before the storm hit. Finally, he grabbed a coffee cup, small plate, knife, & a napkin. He was ready.

Ralph liked his toast nice & hot when he spread the butter. That way it blended with the preserves when he added them. He liked his toast open-faced, even though it meant he had to overlap the slices on the plate. Somehow, they just tasted better that way.

He liked to imagine, as he waited, that one day their toaster would develop an attitude & eject the slices high into the air so he could catch them on his plate like an expert chef (or at least a sitcom character). Once again, it didn’t. He gave a comic sigh & said, “Oh well, maybe tomorrow.”

When all was prepared, he sat down at the table. As he savored the aroma, textures & taste of the fine delicacies setting before him, he thought about what they’d accomplished yesterday & how much the storm might have reclaimed overnight. He was sure to get another solid workout today. He looked at his biceps & thought as he flexed, “Just think of the guns you’re gonna have by the end of this week!”

He laughed at himself. He did think it was important to stay in good shape. But he never had been a body builder & he wasn’t planning to become one now, even if shoveling snow promised to give him an enviable start.

When he’d finished his breakfast, he rinsed his dishes & placed them in the dishwasher, except for his coffee cup which he knew he’d be wanting to use again later. Then he wiped the corners of his mouth with the napkin one more time & tossed it in the trash.

He snuck back into the bedroom to get work clothes, then changed out of his pj’s in the bathroom. At the back door, he suited up & braced himself for the damage the storm had done to their work from the day before.

He took a break around eleven & drank his second cup of coffee while sitting with Penny at the table. By twelve thirty he was satisfied with what he’d accomplished in back & came in for lunch. They shared a can of tomato soup (the kids were still asleep), after which he went out to work on the front. A little after two, he burst through the door & said, “C’mon. You have to see this!”

She followed him & saw that he’d managed to shovel a narrow path back to the surface. Okay, but what did he want her to see?

“Look,” he said, pointing up & all around.

She looked up. “The snow’s still falling?” she asked, genuinely puzzled.

Ralph held her face in his hands. “Not that it’s falling. How it’s falling.”

It took a moment before she realized what was different. “It’s not blowing. But why?”

“It’s the eye,” Ralph answered, looking up & throwing his arms out wide to receive the wonder of it. “It should last anywhere from two to four hours. Isn’t it beautiful? We’ve gotta get the kids!”

No argument there. She followed him to their room.

Ralph poked his head through their door. “So, who wants to play outside?”

They’d had a lot of fun yesterday, so it took a little for Dad’s question to register. But when it did, they were up like two shots. Mom fixed sandwiches while they dressed. It took them less than a minute to wolf them down, along with a glass of milk. They weren’t wasting any time.

Outside, Ralph wanted Penny to see the house. The entire first floor was buried, but you could still find the peak. The second floor & attic looked like a Christmas card. The roofs were steep, so the snow wasn’t more than six inches deep. To all appearances, they now lived in the world’s largest gingerbread house.

“Just a sec. I need to check something,” Ralph said as he made his way through the snow. He wanted to make sure the sewer vent hadn’t iced over. Normally it wouldn’t, but this was not your usual storm, so he wanted to see for himself.

It wasn’t easy, what with the snow falling hard & frequently into his eyes, temporarily blinding him. But he found it, that small wisp of steam that confirmed it hadn’t frozen shut.

Comforted with the knowledge, Ralph turned & said, “Hey kids! Come over here. I want to show you something!”

They waded through the snow, Mom following to help them back up each time they fell. Ralph hadn’t included her. She just assumed.

Ralph made a snowball & said, “Watch this.” He threw it at one of the gables, hitting it near the top, knocking loose the snow, & creating a small avalanche.

“Cool. Can I try?” Timmy asked.

“Sure. Try & hit as high on the roof as you can.”

Timmy fashioned his snowball & threw it as hard as he could. He missed the roof but hit a window. Penny & Ralph looked at each other & winced, just glad it hadn’t broken.

His second snowball hit halfway up, taking a nice sheet of snow with it.

“I wanna try. Let me try,” Rose shouted. “Please, Daddy, can I try?”

“Why not? Have a go.” Ralph & Penny both laughed over her enthusiasm.

Her first snowball hit the side of the house. But she didn’t hit a window. Her second almost made it—high enough, but not the distance. Her third climbed just over, hitting about two feet above the gutter.

“I did it! I did it! Did you see, Daddy? I made the snow fall down.”

“Yes, I did, sweetheart. That was wonderful! What do you say we all have a go at it & see if we can clear the entire roof?”

They spent the next half hour bringing snow down all around the house. Rose got the lower sections beneath the gables while the rest of them aimed for the top. Once, Timmy managed to bring a whole section down, including the under the gable snow.

“Hey, no fair,” Rose complained. “I was supposed to do that one.”

“Sorry,” Timmy apologized. Then, he filled his hands with snow & resumed throwing.

After there were no more avalanches to be made, Penny & Rose went to make snow angels & build more snow folk. Ralph took Timmy & helped him dig tunnels. They’d gotten about six feet back & had begun to carve out a room when Penny returned with Rose. The wind had picked up again. Time to head inside.

But that didn’t mean playtime was over. Mom hauled out the ice cream maker & they made three whole batches before everyone tuckered out from cranking. They all agreed it was the best ice cream they’d ever tasted.

And then they slept, not just through the night, but well into the next day.