We’ve not had a good powdery snow with a significant accumulation in a very long time. The last time I remember having a 10+ inch snow and single digit temperatures was in the early 1980s’. Getting good sized drifts was just a memory till Sunday. The fun times of sledding, digging tunnels into snow banks and building our best interpretation of an igloo came flooding back yesterday.
After spending a couple of hours on the tractor clearing our road I came in for a warm up and rallied the troops for a plunge down the hill.
Today was a blast to hit the hill. My grandkids are here for the weekend, so the oldest boy and I spent yesterday cutting and hauling wood. Then we unrolled a round bale of straw onto the steepest section of our sled run. That section has some exposed rock that don’t feel too good on the backside if the snowfall isn’t thick enough to cover. As it turned out, we didn’t need the straw.
We made a few good runs ever deeper into the holler. Each turn down pushing the snow out ahead of the sledder in a mini explosion of powder and giggles.
Woodys Rocky Ridge 
Ed said,
January 6, 2014 at 10:25 AM
Now there is the grandpa of the year! I don’t think my grandfather would have unrolled a bale of hay just so I could have an easier go at sledding!
Woody said,
January 6, 2014 at 12:02 PM
Ha! Well, it was straw and nearing a move to the compost pile with the next load of manure. I’ll take the accolades though.
Leigh said,
January 27, 2014 at 5:04 AM
Wow! That is some snow! We haven’t had any for a couple of years.
I wanted to mention that we love your idea of using sunflower stalks for fire starter. Thank you! We always have a bunch of those (plus okra, amaranth, and corn stalks) that are slow to decompose but always look like they ought to be useful. Now I know they are!
Woody said,
January 28, 2014 at 4:24 AM
I don’t mind the snow, these extremely cold temperatures have taken the fun out of playing in it.
Glad to pass that one on, purely an accidental discovery.