Hoping for Snow?

~ Becky Ross Michael
children playing in snow
Becky and sister Terri

Growing up in Michigan, the opportunity to play in winter snow was always a given. Many years would pass, before living in the much different climates of North Carolina and now Texas, to understand how scores of children (and even adults!) maintain such strong desires and dreams for that white stuff.

In 2019, I wrote a blog post with the happy news about the anticipated publication of my story, “Welcome to Texas, Heikki Lunta,” which revolves around two children waiting for snow. To check out the history of Heikki Lunta in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, you can read that post here.

Today, I’m excited to share my full story with you, which was first published in U.P. Reader Issue #3.

frosty window

Welcome to Texas, Heikki Lunta!

Another winter holiday passed with no snow in sight. Not one flake. That glorious white stuff hadn’t fallen on Ella and Rae-Ann’s part of Texas in years. The sisters searched the sky when cold winds blew. They peered out the windows to see what was new. Nothing.  

“We had such fun playing in the snow that year,” said Ella, pointing at a framed photo.

“I only remember making snow angels when I look at that picture,” said her younger sister, Rae-Ann.

New Year’s Day came and went. The children said ‘good-bye’ to winter break and returned to their classrooms.

***

Mom shooed two dogs away as she sliced apples and spooned peanut butter onto plates for an after-school snack. Grandma sat in the kitchen finishing her coffee.

 “Y’all come to the table, girls. And don’t let the dogs get your food,” warned Mom. With a shiver, she turned the furnace up a notch before joining the others.

“It’s sure getting cold out there,” said Grandma. “I hear that Heikki Lunta might make a visit.”

“Hay-Kee who?” asked Ella, licking peanut butter from her fingers.

Rae-Ann’s eyes stole a quick look at the back door.

“His story’s rather long,” their grandmother said.

“Tell us,” the sisters begged in one voice.

“Well, you know I used to live w-a-a-a-y at the tip-top of Upper Michigan,” Grandma began.

“I sort of remember visiting you there,” said Ella.

“That was summer. You have no idea what it’s like in the winter.”

“Lots of snow?” asked Rae-Ann.

“Tons,” nodded Grandma. “The snowbanks grow taller than people. Schools sometimes close for a week at a time because of the blizzards.”

“Wow!” Ella exclaimed. The dogs cocked their heads to the side, listening.

“What does that have to do with this Heikki Lunta?” Mom asked.

“Quite a few families in Northern Michigan came from a far-away, snowy country called Finland,” said Grandma. “Many years ago, those who lived in Finland shared stories called ‘myths,’ just like most ancient people around the world.”

Scooping Snow in Finland (Pixabay)

“I learned about myths in school,” Ella said. “Those are made-up stories that explain how things work or got started. We read about how the elephant got its trunk.”

“Exactly,” said Mom. “And you’ve both seen a movie about Hercules, which is also a myth.”

“That’s right,” Grandma said. “Many of those stories include gods and goddesses. ’Heikki Lunta’ is like a snow god from Finland. People who live in Upper Michigan often talk about him in the winter when they’re hoping for snow. Hotels and restaurants looking for visitors to the area even put up signs saying, ‘Heikki Lunta, do your thing.’”

“Did you ever see him?” whispered Rae-Ann.

“He’s just pretend,” Ella reminded her younger sister. “Grandma, why did you tease us and say he’s coming here?”

Mom and Grandma exchanged knowing looks.

“The weather report says we might get a bit of snow tonight or tomorrow,” Mom answered.

Her daughters’ smiles reached from ear to ear.

“Make it snow, Heikki Lunta, make it snow,” sang Grandma, when it was time for her to leave.

***

When Dad returned from work, the sisters rushed out to his red pick-up truck and told him about the forecast. After dinner, they drew pictures of their neighborhood covered in snow. At the bottom of hers, Ella wrote, “Please send snow Haykee Loonta.”

The girls welcomed bedtime that night. Ella left her blinds open in hopes of seeing some flurries. In another room down the hall, Rae-Ann was excited and just a little nervous. She peeked through long lashes at her bedroom door before falling asleep.

While she slept, Rae-Ann imagined someone like Hercules. He wore a heavy white coat with its collar turned up against the cold. Ella dreamed of a man with long gray hair and beard, who was dressed in a flowing blue robe. Wind and snow swirled around him. Heikki Lunta?  As the whole town slept, dark clouds gathered and delivered a bit of magic.

                                                                     ***

At the sound of Dad’s pick-up leaving in the morning, four eyes popped open wide. Rae-Ann and Ella ran to their windows and cheered at the sight of powdery snow on the ground and glistening flakes in the air. The time said 9:00. Why had their parents let them sleep so late?

“You’re taking a snow day,” Mom explained in the kitchen.

“School’s closed?” asked Rae-Ann.

“The roads are quite safe, according to the radio. We don’t get snow very often, so Dad and I decided to let you stay home and enjoy it.”

 “Yay!” both girls cheered, as they ran to get dressed.

“A warm breakfast comes first,” Mom yelled up the stairs. “Then we’ll hunt up our wooly hats and mittens. You’ll need to wear your snow boots and not just those ropers.”

***

dogs in the snow
Dogs Surprised by Snow

Light snow continued to fall throughout the morning. The three stomped trails in their backyard and built a small snowman. Ella and Rae-Ann lay down and flapped their arms to make snow angels. Their happy dogs rolled near them on the frosty ground. While watching their fun, Mom picked a torn section of blue fabric from a nearby bush.

“Maybe Heikki Lunta really did help us out,” Ella said with a secret grin, at the sight of the blue material. “Does Grandma know about the snow?”

“I’m sure she does,” said Mom. “Let’s pick her up for a snow ride.”

“What’s that?” asked Rae-Ann. “A car drive on the snowy streets?”

“It’s mostly melted from the roads. I’ll phone her to say that we’re coming, and then I’ll show you my idea.”

Ten minutes later, the laughing trio arrived at Grandma’s apartment building. When she slid into the front seat, she saw what was causing their excitement. Sparkling snowflakes floated into the car from the open moon roof.

Mom pulled back onto the street. People up and down the sidewalks turned in surprise. Echoes of four voices drifted through the winter air, “THANK YOU, HEIKKI LUNTA!”

snowman
Texas Snowman

56 thoughts on “Hoping for Snow?”

  3. What a great post!! The picture of the sisters brought back many happy memories of playing in the snow, skating and building snow forts. I also loved your story about Heikki Lunta. Thanks so much for sharing it with us.

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  4. What a lovely Christmas treat to read your delightful snowy tale. if I were even 10 years younger, I would look forward to snow. Now I’m more afraid of falling or even shoveling. it still looks and feels lovely as long as it is a nicely behaved snow that coats the yards but maybe not the streets. 🙂

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  6. Great story Becky. I can remember as a child living in Christchurch New Zealand slugging through snow to get to school, had to wear black gumboots (wellingtons). We would take time to get balls of snow to throw at each other or into the ditches along the side of the road.

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  7. I remember similar “mounds of snow” in Colorado back in the 1960s — and a lot more green during Spring and Summer (so it was wetter then)… what used to be several feet of snow is now dust-to-6 or 8 inches…and mostly dust. This post reminds me of the wonderousness of a REAL snow! Thank you and congratulations! 🙂

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  13. I enjoyed your story of anticipating the wonders of snow! I grew up in nothern Vermont and New Hampshire–and the snow never got old. My brother and I loved to play in it. The only fly in the ointment was that my mother refused to let us build a snow fort for fear it would collapse and asphyxiate us.

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    1. So happy this brought back memories for you, Liz! I remember my mom had those same fears as you mention. I think one year she finally gave in to my younger brother building a fort, right by the back steps so she would be near if anything went awry!

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  14. One memory your story brought back was the smell of snow-caked mittens drying on the school radiators. Remember how the snow would ball up in the mittens’ fuzz?

    Having grown up in real snow, much of this resonated. In 2004, we had what some people still refer to as the Christmas miracle: enough snow in Houston and along the coast for real snowmen to be built. It started on Christmas eve, and by Christmas morning there were inches. It was so gorgeous that HEB published two books of photos from up and down the coast. One of my neighbors was from Norway, and when we all rushed out to see the snow falling, she was dancing around barefoot, yelling “It’s like home! It’s like home!”

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    1. That’s a lovely image of the neighbor from Norway in the Texas snow, Linda! As for the mittens, I don’t remember radiators at school but we definitely had them in our house. I can smell wet wool right now at the thought of this; and yes, I remember the little ice balls that would form on them:)

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  16. Loved it! Your pic as a kid is precious. I didn’t used love snow. I still do, but I cannot drive in it or on black ice and just the anticipatory anxiety is horrible. But I did bring my snow globe down to Florida! Happy hols, Becky

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  18. In this part of South America, we don’t have snow like you. You have to travel to specific places to find it. Anyway, I enjoyed reading you. I was very lucky to find your blog. Always post interesting, valuable and interesting things. Despite not speaking the language, the translator was the solution, a bit limited. Sometimes I find it difficult to comment for this very reason.
    I wish you a happy new year and all the best to you and your family. A hug
    Manuel Angel

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  19. I like the snow, and like you used to live somewhere it was more common than where I am now (but still not usual and rarely more than a couple of inches.) I love to see it falling, or waking up to everything quiet and white.

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  21. The story is wonderful. There’s something special about snow. I love the Texas snowman. I just want to hug him and tell him everything will be okay. (Can you want to hug a snowman?)

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