7 inches.

7 heavy, penetrating, soft, dreamlike inches of…

SNOW!  (What did you think I was talking about, pervert?)

I don’t mind being cold.  As long as there is snow.

I don’t mind the overcast, dreary days of winter.  As long as there is snow.

I don’t mind being stuck at home because of the elements.  As long as it is snow.

See a pattern here?  Living in the Midwest, snow used to be a defining attribute of our winter season.  The past couple of years, however, there has been a drastic decrease in snowfall.  Snow has become almost nonexistent around here, or if it does snow, it is a dusting that doesn’t stick around for long. Winter has royally sucked the past few years.

Early this morning, however, I woke to seven glorious inches of snow blanketing our property.  I pulled on my boots, donned my hat and gloves, and set out to shovel our driveway and enjoy the serene landscape before it was wrecked by kid/animal/sled/UTV tracks.

My most memorable snowfall as a child was the year the city created a snow mountain in our front yard.  That year we must have gotten about the same amount, if not more snow.  My family lived in a cul-de-sac and as the plows worked tirelessly pushing snow off our neighborhood roads, our front yard became the collective dumping point.  It was amazing!  I remember feeling like I finally had my own personal snow mountain, similar to the giant parking lot mounds that I was never allowed to climb.  That year, my sister and I ended up digging the coolest tunnel through that mountain and spent hours sledding through it and down into the road.  Good thing we lived in a cul-de-sac!

As I started shoveling my driveway this morning, I couldn’t help but reminisce and wish my children could have something as cool as a snow mountain to remember the first record snowfall of their lifetime.  It was a bit more labor-intensive on my part, but I shoveled and carried the snow to one side of the drive and ended up creating a somewhat impressive snow mound.

The hubby said that it looked like I was building a wall.  Fake news, pal, fake news.

Okay, so it’s no Mount Everest, but it will suffice. I am so excited for the kids to be able to tunnel and conquer their own little snow heap.  Hopefully, they will even call on their mama for a little subject matter expertise on building the perfect tunnel!