GEEKOLOGY 101: Take a snow storm, add in three Darling boys and what do you get?

Now I know most of you out there are probably sick of the white stuff falling from the sky. I hear you. It can get a little old, fast to some people.

Well I am not one of those people and am one of “THOSE” people whom absolutely love snow.

Why? Well, I was raised in the Dakotas during my “impressionable” years and snow was just a way of life.

In a small town of just under 100 people, having something entertaining to do is a luxury that doesn’t come around all too often.

One of those luxuries were snow days.

When we would hear that Doland School in Doland, SD was closed, we would throw open the closet that housed our winter gear and get to work.

Layer upon layer of warm clothing was donned as we prepared our onslaught of the outdoors.

But you never want to put on too much or you will either a) sweat to death or b) have some many layers on you couldn’t move like a normal person and you will spend the rest of the day waddling around like a penguin.

We had a snowmobile and sleds galore and the perfect spot to go barrelling down the hill to our hearts content.

Plus being in a small town of so few people you hardly were interrupted with oncoming traffic or too many kids showing up on your sledding hill.

We, also, had a barn/shed in our backyard that was famous for the snow drifts that would develop behind it.

Every year we would climb to the roof of that building and take a running leap of faith to see how firm the snow drift was.

One year I sunk so deep into the drift my brothers had to come dig me out. Good times, good times.

For the longest time I have been waiting for just the right moment to share this love of outdoor snow life with my boys.

Usually I would either be disappointed at the amount of snow that fell or it would fall during the work week and it would either be too dark to go play outside or it would be too soggy as it melted away before my eyes.

Well, this past Friday and exciting chain of events happened. We had just gotten a ton of snow and I asked my boss if I could take a half day of vacation and make my winter dreams come true.

And it was my birthday so the magic was happening.

So after my boss was awesome enough to let me go, I set out to surprise my boys with a magical day of sledding.

When I got to the babysitter’s house, they were both excited and a little confused on why daddy was there and not at work.

This confusion turned to glee as I told them the plan for the rest of the afternoon.

No video games, no TV. Just me and the boys and nature. It was going to be Legend...wait for it...dary! Legendary!

Now the oldest one was all for it. The wee one was a little more apprehensive. Once we had our hill in sight and Liam made his first run, Declan was excited to be the next rider down the hill (as in the little incline by our house that leads into our neighbors driveway).

It was so much fun and we all such a great time. Even our neighbor Mary and her dog Foxy came out to enjoy the snow day fun.

Unfortunately the snow was still a little too cold to build a snowman so we headed indoors to strip off the layers and we indulged in hot chocolate and oreos. Mmm good!

It was a great time that I thoroughly enjoyed sharing with my boys and hope to do again sometime soon. Now if only mom could have been out there to enjoy the moment with us. That truly would have been the best birthday present ever.

Gary Darling is the geekiest employee at the Maryville Daily Forum. His email is: gdarling@maryvilledailyforum.com. Drop him a line sometime!