By Jeremy D. Wells
Carter County Times
We didn’t get a lot of snow during that cold spell last weekend. It was really more of a dusting than anything, and by late afternoon a lot of it was starting to melt off. But that didn’t stop the baby boy from getting out and making the most of what little snow we had. While his mommy was away for work I got him dressed up in his snow suit, boots and mittens and we went out to enjoy the weather. At least, he enjoyed the cold.
Emulating the character Peter from one of his favorite books, The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats, he made different types of tracks in the snow. He laid down and made snow angels. We made snowballs. I pushed him around in his toy car. (He couldn’t move it himself with the bulk of the snowsuit.) Then he played on the slide, making me promise not to catch him as he came off the end.
It wouldn’t have been my first choice for a snowy day – I’m more of a curl-up-with-a-cup-of-coffee-and-a-book kind of guy than a snow frolicker – but the baby had a good time and that’s really all I needed to have a good day myself.
One thing we do share is a love of walks in the woods, so it was inevitable that the snow covered afternoon would lead us behind the chicken coop, over the hill, and down through the trees towards the creek.
Along the way he told me he didn’t want to run into any coyotes. He also told me a tall tale he made up on the spot about the “beep-bop-boop dogs” that live in the woods behind our house. In case y’all don’t know about the beep-bop-boop dogs, they live in the woods. They’re robots, but they are alive, and they make a sound like a long howl. They also look just like whatever dogs you already have in your home or around your neighborhood. That dog you see in the woods, that looks just like your pet? That isn’t your dog. That’s a beep-bop-boop dog. But they aren’t bad, and they don’t like coyotes.
All in all, he had a wonderful day. His only complaint was that I wouldn’t let him get into the water at the creek. That, and I made him come inside to warm up once his nose and cheeks were as red as ripe strawberries.
Once he got inside, though, and out of his snowsuit, he decided being warm and cozy was ok too and curled up in my lap. Then we both got what I wanted most on that cold, snowy day– a nice long nap.
Contact the writer at editor@cartercountytimes.com