We had a light snow last night and at Lydia’s suggestion we head to Side Park to play in the snow. Side is just two blocks away – maybe a five minute walk – but we drive because the ground is still wet, its cold, and we are lazy. It reminds me of a TED video I watched yesterday in which the speaker says we humans are good at solving 99% of the problem but have a hard time with the last one percent because we humans do weird stuff. Anyway, we get to the park and the paved trails (all trails are paved) are clear and alongside the trail is a nice dusting of snow. I am able to make a nice round snow ball and chuck it at Yang, then another at Aidan, and another at Lydia. Aidan is having a hard time making the ball and Lydia is distracted. Yang gets them interested in chasing me and the snow goes back and forth. Then the workers notices us. The workers are sweeping the snow off the trails with bamboo brooms. There are about six in all, sweeping away and no doubt they’ve been at it a while. They are not so keen on us getting snow back on the trail even though its really only a little bit and that bit will melt in the warming day. But I raised well enough to respect the working man and know enough that they are likely being judged by how clean that trail is.

So we move into the grasslands. The grasslands which in summer you cannot picnic on or play on because to do so would be to harm the grass. I bend over to make a snow ball when Aidan decides to attack me with one of his owns. The problem with Aidan’s attack is he is so excited about it that he can’t contain himself and he says what his is going to do. Just as he is about ready to throw his snow ball at me, I use my hands to whoosh the powder in front of me at his face and he gets a good dousing.  He is not too pleased. Lydia, meanwhile, is having me make snow balls for her. And she is a bit more serious of an attacker. Running hard at me with the snow in her hands, throwing it, hitting her mark, and then running quickly away. Earlier she finds a brick and she asks if she can put snow around it and throw that.

After the snow fight, Aidan is a bit downtrodden and cold. I want to say that’s what happens when you lose a snow fight, but then i realize he isn’t quite seven yet so it isn’t quite fair that don’t let him win. So I go over to where he is standing and I write his name in big block letters in the snow. And he writes his name in Chinese. Soon we notice Yang and Lydia are gone. The park isn’t that big, so we walk in the direction we think they went. We spot them on the frozen lake riding a sled. A sled very much like this one which we rode on Houhai last month.

Unlike Houhai, the scene is a lot quieter and this particular day is much warmer. I use the poles to push the sled faster and faster as Lydia says jiāyoú – “go go” over and over.