Thursday, February 4, 2010

SnOMG !!!!!!!!!


With Super Bowl grocery shopping in full swing, the last thing we want to see at Daisy Mae's Market is snow. We're an outdoor fresh produce vendor at Findlay Market so we're used to dealing with rain and even some cold temperatures. We've got tents and heaters so unless we get to single digit temperatures for several days in a row, we're not too worried about keeping the fruits and vegetables protected. However, we ARE worried that some of our customers may be reluctant to venture out in snowy weather. When snow is in the forecast, Cincinnatians run to buy bread and milk, and then they hunker down until the snow catastrophe has passed.
Now I didn't exactly grow up in the Snow Belt, but my family did teach me how to have fun when it snowed. We'd pile in the station wagon and head for the local golf course where we'd spend hours going up and down the hills with our sleds. When I got a little older, my uncle let me try his old wooden skis, and it wasn't too long until I was hooked on skiing. Besides the family sled-riding, I remember a college spring break road trip interrupted by a blizzard where my friends and I ended up stranded in a "dive" motel in the middle of Kansas. To 20-year-old college students, that was a blast and I'll never forget it. I also remember the Blizzard of 1978 at Miami University that shut down Oxford for a week, and an ice/snow event in the late 1980's that kept us without power in Cincinnati for a couple days. Both of those may sound miserable, but we'll never forget all the fun we had during those times.
Even as adults, I've had some great snow memories...trips to Colorado for skiing or spontaneous wine and cheese parties with snowed-in neighbors...building snowmen and forts with our kids...walking at Winton Woods when the trees glistened with icicles...
As we listen to weekend forecasts that may disrupt your shopping or Super Bowl plans, just remember that snow can make great memories. Snow seems to freeze the images in your mind so that you'll never forget them.
Have your kids ever said, "Remember the time we went to Findlay Market in the snow?" They haven't? Forget the hunkering down---Have fun in the snow...Go sled-riding, skating at Fountain Square, shop at Findlay Market, and make some new memories! (And don't forget: You're going to need a carrot for that snowman!)

2 comments:

  1. OMG! I remember that "dive" motel like it was yesterday! It's still hard to believe we ever survived that drive! Here's hoping this weekend's snow won't curtail your business too much.

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  2. OMG! You never know who's reading what you write! I still remember putting the snow tires on in "who-knows-where"...and miles and miles of Scrabble...and sitting in lawn chairs in the back of a panel van. Was that safe?

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