29th February was a beautiful sunny day and I went for a walk in the park, admiring the daffodils and wondering how many women would be proposing on this a leap year (if that’s still a done thing).

The next day, 1st March 2024 came and with it brought….Snow!.

My son (who is 6) was thrilled, as he’d been waiting for snow since Christmas time. On the way to school expressing how he felt about this wonderous event, he sang ‘It feels like heaven‘, a 1983 song by Fiction Factory, that I didn’t even know he knew. He raised his head to the heavens, opened his mouth, stuck out his tongue, catching the big, fat, snowflakes as they fell.

Me on the other hand, I worried about his socks getting wet (this time I’d brought a spare pair) and how long the snow would last (only a day). But as I watched him, I wondered how I could regain that wonderful, childlike state of being. I asked him how he does it, and he told me the number one rule – Play more. So taking his advice, I stopped, opened my mouth and let the cold snowflakes land on my tongue. It felt silly and reminded me of being a child.

I’m not sure what ‘playing more’ looks like for me as an adult, but while I ponder upon it, I will continue to enjoy watching him find joy in the simple things in life. And I will follow his lead.

Words & photos by Christine Poole 04.03.2024