Do people even dig snow tunnels any more?
While I was out running yesterday (and, thankfully, not getting any more frostbite on my left earlobe) I noticed that the city of Marquette hasn't been cutting down the snowbanks between the sidewalks and streets like they usually do. I can't say I blame them, especially with the way everyone seemingly just shovels it all back into the street after the plows deposit it into their driveways. So the banks have started to build up, which normally wouldn't be that big of a deal. But the size of the banks stood out because, for the first time in a long time, they seem to be big enough to tunnel into.
Now, when I was a kid (back in the 1800s) it seems like we had more snow, and back then the city never cut down snowbanks. So when enough snow had built up, we'd dig a tunnel into them, sometimes making a tunnel long enough to go from driveway to driveway. We'd then scamper in and out, defend it from snowball attacks, and invariably lose at least one mitten in the tunnel, where it remained until its soggy carcass was found after the spring melt.
I know; it's amazing we weren't killed in a cave-ins or by an errant snow plow. But that's what kids did back then—we did things we'd consider to be too dangerous or stupid for our own children (if we had any) to do. But we did those things, and and we survived.
And that's what got me to wondering if people still dig snow tunnels. I mean, not only are the opportunities limited by the lack of snow the past few years and by the city cutting usually down the snowbanks (and as someone who walks a lot during the winter, I'm glad they do, because it makes it easier for me to see cars and vice versa), but also by the fact that times have changed. Kids don't do what kids used to do.
Don't get me wrong; that's not necessarily a bad thing. I mean, kids used to leave school at age 10 to go work in factories, so I'm glad things like that have changed. I'm not one of those people who keeps saying “back in my day” or complains that things don't stay the same decade after decade. I realize that times change and the way people live change. That's just a fact of life, and to rail against that particular machine is just a waste of time and breath.
But still, every so often I wonder if a kid of today would get a kick out of the (in hindsight) stupid things I did (and enjoyed) when I was young. I mean, I turned out somewhat okay even having done those things. Would kids today have the same blast crawling through a snow tunnel, or would they just look at me for suggesting it like I'm a dinosaur and go back to scrolling You Tube?
Sadly, I have the feeling I know the answer to that.
8-)
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