Rare Snowfall

The snowfields of my childhood
Are but memories today
In mild winters where I live now
Fifteen hundred miles away.

But today I wakened to a sight
That took me back in time.
Bright snows lies glistening on the ground
The trees are wreathed with rime.

My little year-round garden
Is hunkered out of sight.
Dire warnings on the TV--
There will be more snow tonight.

The schools are closed, and children
Are sliding down the hills.
Some partaking for the first time
In a winter day of thrills.

The roads are ice arenas which
Few drivers can traverse.
Cars lie abandoned by the side,
Or in the ditch or worse.

In the winters of the long ago,
My daddy kept a sleigh
And a horse or two to pull it
On such a wintry day.

Over-coats, scarves and galoshes
Were ours in good supply
To get us through the winter cold
And snowdrifts mountain high.

I wish that I could conjure up
A horse and big red sleigh,
That I could take out for a drive
On this sunny, winter day.

I'd gather up my grandchildren
In my big sled, for a ride
To see the startling beauty in
A wintry countryside.

By: Joyce Johnson 11/28/06