Jump to content

Snow Mowing


SeeWhatSueSaw
 Share


One day in about March, 1990, when John was almost three, I dressed all three boys warmly in their snowsuits and sent them outside to play. It had snowed a short time before, so there was lots of snow. Our gravel driveway and the surrounding streets were white, covered with packed snow.

 

I stayed inside to get some things done, but kept glancing out the window to check that the boys were okay. Our yard was in a little hollow and the boys had always stayed around the swing set --- until that day.

 

John had the toy lawnmower outside, so he started “mowing” the snow. Lost in his own world, he “mowed” down the snow-covered driveway and turned to go along the edge of the now-white side street on which we lived. Next, he followed the curve of the road that went in front of the corner service station. Finally, he headed up the lonely snow-packed county road that led out of the little town in which we lived

 

Beyond the service station, there were no houses for a long ways since the road was surrounded by fields. We lived at the edge of the town, and outside of the city limits, the speed limit on the county road was 55 miles per hour.

 

It must have been a few minutes before I looked out the window to check on the boys again and noticed John was gone. I was very distraught, running all around the yard, searching desperately for my little boy.

 

Fortunately, my distress did not last long. Shortly after I started searching, a mechanic from the corner garage came by our house --- carrying a little boy and a toy mower. "Is this little guy yours?" he asked. "I found him on the county road heading north out of town! You should keep better watch over your kids!”

 

I felt about an inch high, and knew I was the worst mother in the world, but I didn’t care.

I was almost hysterical with relief that John was safe and sound and back home again.

 

(Extracted photo of John taken two years before above story happened; photo of three boys taken around the time the story happened, but not the same day)

 

Snowflakes by DS - Anna; Holiday Sugar Cookies alpha (re-colored) by FD; CU textures; Font: Teen Bold

From the album:

SeeWhatSueSaw - Album 1

  • 48 images
  • 0 comments
  • 150 image comments

Photo Information for Snow Mowing

 Share


Recommended Comments

I like your use of the road photo - featuring the speed sign - as a background, and repeating the snowflake border to divide journaling columns is very effective. Love the photo of snow-mowing!

 

And I completely understand your journaling, and the emotional impact of John's adventure. When my daughters were about 3 and 4, I let them out into a FENCED backyard, and continued whatever I was doing in the kitchen, checking out the window every few minutes - until they weren't there any longer. Panic! I raced around the block, calling them, to no avail. DH was on the other side of the country, in a place not listed on maps or in phonebooks; I had to call his commanding officer to contact him. His response - logical but unhelpful to me - was "What do you expect ME to do about it?!" But our neighbor and the police found them fairly quickly, and we all survived the adventure, and were just fine, until the next adventure. Isn't motherhood exciting?

Link to comment

Oh my... I bet every mother's heart knows exactly what you feel. And we all do a very good job of finger-pointing at ourselves for what we should done. THANK THE LORD that John was okay and was found before he headed outta town! I do wonder... does John still love mowing?!?! Your LOs are wonderful... the snow-covered landscape is a fabulous backdrop to the story (very nicely presented in columns and easy-to-read point size) and the photo extraction is precious. Super spread!

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Add a comment...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...