What a treat to have a snow day this week. I pray for snow every year, but it rarely comes. So far this Tuesday, there is more ice than snow, but I am happy, happy, happy nonetheless.

Why, you ask…well, for one thing the memories of snow days as a child when mother let us collect the white powder to make snow ice cream. Daddy would bring out the old hand-crank ice cream maker, load it up with rock salt, and we would all take turns cranking until that luscious sweet treat was ready.

As a New Yorker, snow days were the absolute best. I remember the Blizzard of ’96. I walked out of my brownstone to see the stoop laden with snow forcing me to sit down and slide down 10 steps to get to street level.

And then there was the Blizzard of ’03. Adventurous city dwellers would pull out their cross-country skis and glide about town greeting strangers. My friends and I would get our favorite coffee, cappuccino, or latte and bundle up and stroll down the middle of streets looking at the sights and popping into shops to warm up. We would even get garbage can lids and take them to the park to slide down hills. Snow days makes kids of us all.

For some reason, I often seem to have a job that does not allow for snow days. Today, we here at The Prentiss Headlight are busy working, as Tuesday is our big day. Like mail at the post office, the news never stops, although icy roads have stopped us from delivering The Shopping Bag to your door on Wednesday.

Prentiss is like a ghost town except for the occasional 4-wheel driver doing a little sightseeing. Deer hunters are out in prime weather for spotting their prey. Snow is just beginning to cover the ice outside, and hopefully, we’ll see snowmen on the way home.

Snow days are magical days. It was reported that one child in our community was overheard saying, “I think Santa Claus is coming tonight…” Well, Santa may have come and gone, but a January snow day is the best Christmas present ever.

Send us your snowmen photos and show off your artistic endeavors: janice@prentissheadlight.com.