Delano Herald Journal

Serving the communities of Delano, Loretto, Montrose, MN, and the surrounding area

Opal “Grandma” Habisch Column 1/11/99



Jim is three years old. He has a big sister, a mother and
a father.

One day his sister asked his mother if she could take him
outdoors. It was winter time, but she promised her mother that she would
dress Jim up warmly so he wouldn’t be cold.

“Okay,” Mother said. “You may take Jim outside,
but be sure you dress him good and warm.”

And she did. In fact, Jim was dressed so well that he could
hardly stand up.

“That’s okay,” his sister told him. “I will
carry you.”

She took him outside and put him on a sled.

“I’m cold,” Jim said.

“That’s okay,” his sister said. “You will
get used to it. I will give you a ride on the sled. It will be fun – you’ll
see.”

Off Jim’s sister went with the sled. She turned a corner,
but Jim didn’t. He ended up in a snowbank.

“I thought she said this was going to be fun,”
Jim thought to himself. His sister came back for him and put him back on
the sled.

“Wait,” Jim said. “I don’t think I want
to ride anymore.”

But she was off and running. This time Jim stayed on the
sled, but he started to cry. Before too long, he rolled off the sled again.
His sister came back for him and said, “I will take you home. We will
make snowballs instead.”

When they got back to the house, Jim’s sister gave him
some snow and helped him to make a ball out of it. The snow was very cold
and Jim was very wet. He wanted to go back inside where it was warm and
dry.

Jim started to cry again. He cried louder and louder until
his mother came and brought him back indoors.

As his mother started to undress him, she noticed that
he was wet on the inside of the snowsuit, too.

“You would be wet, too, if you had a crazy person
pulling you fast in the snow and dumping you in the snowbanks,” Jim
thought to himself.

Mother said, “You can go outside and have some fun
in the snow again tomorrow, Jim.”

Jim thought, “But I don’t want to go outside. Not
ever again.”

When he went to bed, Jim hoped that all the snow would
be gone by morning. But when he woke up the snow was still there, in fact,
there was even more snow coming down out of the sky.

It was snowing and blowing and very cold outside. Jim’s
mother said, “Well, I guess you won’t be able to go outdoors today.”

Jim was very glad to hear that. He hoped it would snow
and snow and never quit, not until spring, so he wouldn’t have to go outside
to play in the snow ever again.

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