Snow

In my childhood (0-18) I only remember it snowing properly once. You know the type of thing, when the snow settles..? That’s properly snowing in my book. I only remember this happening once. It was before I started school. I think my brother was born, so between the age of 2 and 4. Let’s say 3. It was a magnificent time. It was around Christmas, I remember watching the snow fall from inside our front room, with the Christmas tree next to me. And the log fire burning in the hearth. I remember our dog too. Sharna. A large Alsatian. She watched it with me.
I remember my Mam taking me into the back garden and letting me walk in the snow while she held my hand. She had to hold my hand because there was a wall and a drop on one side of the garden. Not that Sharna would let me fall. She always walked between me and the wall anyway. Mam was just paranoid. I was wearing an all in one, in baby blue. Slightly faded. I wasn’t the original owner. And a pair of wellies with a drawstring top and sheepskin inside. Very warm. With wool socks my Great Grandmother had knitted for me. They were red and blue. I remember leaving footprints in the snow in the garden, and then the snow falling so quickly that they are gone by the time that I have done a lap of the garden and looked at the shed with Mam. I remember Sharna walking around with us, and not letting me move more than two steps from Mam at any point. She knew my sense of adventure then and wouldn’t let me push my luck too far. She knew...