Holiday Edition: You did What in your Snow Suit?!

My sister and I grew up in a pretty yellow house off a dirt road in Prince William County VA when that part of VA was all farmland still. Before the malls were expanded, bypasses were built, and shopping centers were erected on every corner, almost anywhere southwest of Fairfax county was still dotted with fields and farms.
After passing the small local golf course on what used to be Davis Ford Road, you would turn right on to our road; Moore Drive. On your left was a small white country church with blue and yellow stained glass windows and a simple cemetery in back. Around your first bend was the Buckhall General Store where my sister and I would ride our bikes in the summer to buy yoohoos and ice cream bars. As you drove deeper down Moore on the bumpy, dusty, dirt road, you would see cows grazing on the fields of Kemper farm and then the trees would begin to thicken as you entered the woods on the way to our home.
In the winter these woods became a wonderland. Icicles hanging from 100 year old trees and snow drifts so deep you could lose a boot and never find it again (which did happen to my friend Rodey growing up...we dug and dug for an hour and never found that boot and it never turned up after the snow melted). Living off this narrow, hilly, winding road in the winter also meant you could get snowed in for several days or more. For my sister and I that meant several days off school to play in the snow and we were in heaven.
We had just over an acre of land surrounded my trees, a deep gully in the front yard, and some terrific hills in the back yard. This meant hours of sledding, building forts, and piling up huge snowmen. My Mom could barely get my sister and I to sit down and eat breakfast on snowy days. We would wake up and look out our window to a huge blanket of white covering our front yard and then it would drop off into the gully where sledding and hide and seek waited...how could we be asked to sit down and eat breakfast when so much fun was calling?
Lindsay and I would shovel some fruit loops in our mouths and then run to our rooms to dig out our thermal underwear, several pairs of socks, boots, hats, gloves, and to top it all off, our pink snow suits. We didn't plan on coming in for a very long time so we used to wear a couple pairs of underwear,  two layers of thermals, a sweatshirt and jeans over that, 3 pairs of socks, and then the snow suit. It was literally hard to walk and move around but we surely managed. It took so long to put all of that on and then take it off again that we would wait as long as we could to go back inside to eat or use the bathroom.

At some point my sister and I just decided it was too much work to go inside to use the bathroom and that is when we began what we called; "Yellow Snow". Yes, when we were young playing in the snow, we used to pee in the snow instead of going inside to the bathroom. I remember running up and down the hills in the backyard sledding over and over and then plopping down at the top of the hill to make some yellow snow before hoping up again for another run.
At the end of the day we would head back into the house and begin peeling off all of our damp layers. Feet numb, noses red, lips blue, and well... covered in pee. Our Mom figured out what we were doing and was in disbelief. She begged us to knock it off and would say; "what is wrong with you crazy kids!" but once we figured this little trick out, we weren't coming back inside for nothing... no way, no how! We were already soaked from the snow anyway, so we just didn't see what the big deal was. Looking back, I really can't believe we did this.
Then one day, the worst happened and it was something I definitely didn't plan....
I must have been 8 or 9 years old and had been playing in the snow all day long. As usual I waited as long as I could before deciding to go inside to use the restroom and this time there was something more than yellow snow sending me inside. My tummy began to rumble and ache and I needed a bathroom fast.
I gathered my strength and carried my heavy, soaking wet self to the front door. I was in such a hurry that I didn't notice our little black Daschund; Boston, sitting in the foyer just waiting for an opportunity like this.
I grabbed the handle on the glass door and pulled and before I knew it, Boston was speeding past me. I whirled around and saw him hauling it up the driveway as fast as he could as my Mother was screaming behind me to "Go get that DOG!!!". At this moment I was in a mental and physical battle...I knew if I turned and ran after that dog, something very very bad could happen but there was no one else who could go get him. I had no choice and I took off after the little black dot speeding up the road. My tummy ached even more and I struggled with all my might to hold back the horrible thing brewing below. I was sweating and doing this crazy hobble of a run as I clenched my muscles as hard as I could but still ran as fast as I could. Halfway up the driveway I lost this battle and I pooped in my pink snow suit. I screamed out; "OOOOH NOOOO!" but I just had to keep running. I reached Boston just before he darted into the street and I grabbed him and slowly waddled back down to the house. As I got closer to the house I began to cry.
Mom was waiting for me and she was so confused at my tears.

"Karissa, Karissa, what is wrong??"

"Mom, I pooped in my snow suit!!" I sobbed

"OOOOOH NOOO!!!" She blurted out and then she began to laugh.

 Her face got beet red and she was cracking up as she grabbed the dog from me and hurried me inside. "Oh no." she said again.

From that day on the only ones making yellow snow were our dogs Cookey and Boston. We learned our lesson and along with a little threatening from our Mother, my sister and I made sure to come inside to use the restroom during the day.
My childhood memories growing up in that house with my family on Moore Drive are magical and the holidays were even more magnificent. The snow, the smell of the wood stove, hanging home-made ornaments on the tree, and a big bowl of potato soup after a day of sledding are memories I will cherish forever and hope to pass down to my baby girl.

My sister on Christmas Day showing off some awesome new Looney Tunes gear

 I will tell her about the yellow snow and warn her that yellow snow is all fun and games until someone poops in their snow suit and that's not fun! I will also invest in extra laundry detergent in case she takes after her silly Mommy and gets some bright idea to avoid cutting her snow time short.