Above / A few memorable snowmen are featured in the January 2024 publication of Positively Naperville, representative of can-do spirit. Temperatures today, Jan. 12, hovering in the mid-30s, are perfect for packing snowballs. Before temperatures dip below zero Sunday, note that the Weather Channel is forecasting snow this evening that will transition to snow showers overnight. One to 3 inches of snow are expected. Get rollin’!
Look for Positively Naperville at your favorite place to pick up the monthly publication. The first two rounds of distribution are complete. We’ve appreciated everybody who has told us our distribution racks were empty. Kindly know that to accommodate the holidays, the January issue with its preview of things to do always goes to press about a week late.
We also appreciate longtime readers who regularly prodded us this past year to bring back “Fun & Fundraising,” a once-regular feature that again will promote local traditions and special events sparked by can-do spirit. For January 2024 find “Fun & Fundraising” on page 29. Plan ahead.
Rolling right along with can-do spirit in the snow
A walk in May Watts Park on Jan. 11, 2024, was accompanied by the joyful sounds of kids at play. From the footbridge over the pond, we could see youngsters rolling snowballs and others building a snow fort near the playground at May Watts Elementary School. After the students went inside, we ventured close enough to take a shot of the snow creation featuring large and small snowballs.
Memories of great big ball of snow at May Watts Park
Our thoughts also raced back to mid-December 2016 when dozens of youngsters enjoyed the great outdoors during a Sunday afternoon of sledding at May Watts Park, followed by teaming up to roll a small snowball into a huge snowball nearly five feet in diameter. The youth carefully steered it toward the snow fence at the base of the sled hill where it slowly melted until the end of January 2017.
Here’s to a happy, healthful & prosperous 2024!
And consider that old familiar round you likely learned in grade school to be a metaphor for life…
Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily. Life is but a dream.
Buddy up… Make friends in the snow…
In this electronic world of counting friends, the playground at May Watts Elementary School displays memorable words from Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) about being a friend. And we’re reminded of Emerson’s essay “Self-Reliance” that suggests for all individuals to trust their own instincts and follow their ideas from one day to the next with freedom to choose.
“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds…” Ralph Waldo Emerson
Something as simple as following all the days in the existence of a single snowball can be joyful and enlightening. Experience a particular day with lessons learned and shared about a “mission accomplished” with a familiar tune, “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.” Think about it.
