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Where are the
kids?
‘Punxsutawney Phil’ to be pardoned
By Bob Robinson
Two houses up the street six kids were having a snowball fight… they
had built snow forts and by some unwritten rule, they didn’t “charge”
the forts… they simply bounced up and down behind them and threw
snowballs at each other.
Three houses further up, some younger kids were building a snowman.
Mommy was helping… after a few minutes she went inside and began fixing
some hot chocolate for three cold, wet youngsters.
The little girl next door was having fun just making “snow angels” in
her front yard.
One street over I could hear the screech of some high school girls as
their boy “friends” hid behind bushes then jumped out with snowballs in
hand… one of the boys had a crush on one of the girls…
His snowballs always seemed to miss.
Oops… sorry. I must be having a flashback to my fourth grade days in
Washingtonville, New York, in 1956. I was one of the kids hiding behind
my fort. This is Greenville, Ohio, 2013. And no kids were to be found
on Monday.
I drove up and down many of the streets around town, through the park,
even over to the junior high where kids had enjoyed some sledding a
couple months earlier. None. Nada.
Were they all in school? Nope. Snow day.
I saw some adults shoveling their walks and driveways. A few adults
were shoveling snow off the Swinging Bridge in the park, but kids were
nowhere to be found.
One scene caught my eye… it was a toddler swing on a front porch. It
looked out of place with the snow-covered ground and flakes coming down
in one of the many “flurries” that took place Monday.
Some of my Edison students said they’d had enough of winter, including
one young lady who had earlier said she was waiting for a “real”
snowfall. She loved winter sports.
“Doesn’t look like it’s going to happen,” she said. “I’m ready for
spring.”
I understand Punxsutawney Phil had a lawsuit filed against him… he saw
no shadow, which of course means an early spring. Not!
Then on the news Tuesday morning I heard that the groundhog had
actually seen his shadow – six more weeks of winter – and that it was
his ‘handler’ that messed up… announcing the prediction wrongly. “Phil”
is supposed to be ‘pardoned’ in the near future.
So do we now sue the handler? They didn’t say.
And how did this tradition get some much attention and publicity that a
groundhog had to hire a handler?
Especially one who couldn’t get it right!
Ready for it or not, the six to nine inches of snow arrived and it was
(probably, hopefully) the last chance at some snow fun for the year… so
what were the kids doing? Try TV, video games or X-Box, I guess…
All except a half dozen kids on the hill next to the Greenville Masonic
Lodge. They were having a good time outside. I didn’t recognize the
latest “sleds” being used, but at least a few were enjoying a “last
hurrah” for winter.
Their peers were still inside, snug and warm in their homes.
It’s a different world.
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