It is rare for snow to affect life here in the balmy South very much. This morning was different. Overnight we did some babysitting.
“Why are you called baby sitter?” asked our grand daughter, “You never sat on us, even when we were small.”
The lane is blocked
We stayed overnight in Thursley, near Hindhead. The parents arrived home at 4.00 am after a Prince concert and nightclubbing in London. Our task was to get up with the children and get them to school this morning. By 7.30 am it was snowing hard again and their road, a sunken country lane, was impassable. No school then; cheers all round, except that the grandson misses his first indoor cricket net practice.
Toboggan run
After breakfast we found foul weather gear and dressed up. The toboggans were located and off we trudged to the sloping field. Snowmen, sledging runs and snowball fights got us all warm and hungry. Even I managed a few runs down the field on a sledge. The youngsters were amazed that I could fall off a sledge and roly-poly down the slope like the rest of them. Back indoors, warming fingers and toes, we took stock of the food supply. Plenty of croissants and hot chocolate were available.
Relief
We settled in. Then someone suggested a good basis for a horror movie might be the babysitters who moved in, sat on babies, and would not go home again. By lunch time the lane was clear and the steep segment had been gritted so we made it to the A3 without a problem.
Snowed-in: 1947 and 1962
I remember being snowed-in during the winter of 1947 and in 1962 I was at work in the hospital and could not go home. That was lucky as we had warmth, food and water. Home was frozen up, the only liquid water left there was in a hot water bottle. Even the loo froze.
Have you a snowed-in story?
In 1962/3 I was living in Felpham, near Bognor. We put on wellies (though the snow came over the top of my little sister’s boots) and walked down to see the sea. It is the only time I have ever seen the sea frozen. I don’t remember schools closing because of the snow in those days!
In 1947 the headmaster declared a new school rule;
“Snowballs shall not contain pieces of ice.”
Our daily milk poked up as an ice cream through the top of the bottle. We put them on the radiators to thaw but due to power cuts, they never did.
It’s interesting to read stories before my humble existence on this planet.
Super post, Mike. I love the innocent questioning of the term baby sitter, and valid point: “You never sat on us, even when we were small.” I missed all the snow today, as I’ve been in London. We had the tiniest sprinkling first-thing, which had completely disappeared by mid-morning.