I grew up in Colorado on the plains and later in the foothills. Winter was gray, snowy and cold. My earliest memories were of the first house I remember we lived in, it was an old grocery store in Merino. The only heat was a pot belly stove in the corner of the big space we used as living room. The space was originally the main part of the grocery store so it seemed huge! It was cold everywhere except in the corner where the stove was. This was in the late 50's so we were a little behind times. When it was time for a bath, my mom put an old wash tub in front of the stove and poured kettles of hot water into for warm bathwater. I think the rest of the family used a shower in the basement and there was no heat at all for them. My brother's had it much worse. They lived in the attic, no heat and lots of wind blowing through. We were always bundled up in layers of clothes and wrapped in old wool blankets some of them the same as the bright colored blankets with stripes that were traded to early Native Americans.
When I was a little older, I remember we lived in a house with a front yard that sloped to the curb. My brother Doug had a pizza kitchen so he brought home a large pizza pan for me to use as a sled to slide down the hill.
My favorite part of winter in Colorado were the Canadian Geese. They flew so low over the houses I used to think that if I climbed the roof of the house with a big fish net, I could catch them on the fly. They seemed so close that you could see the beautiful detail of the goose down on their bellies.
Finally of course, there is nothing more awe inspiring to see the beautiful Rocky Mountains covered in snow as you looked out your windows. It was magic.
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