Sunday evening, our family had been “snowed in” for the better part of four days, other than morning worship at Trinity Baptist, and a brief trip to the grocery store. With a bad case of “cabin fever”, I decided we needed to do something different: “Let’s all go take a walk!”

There is always something about our family walks. We can each just be sitting around the house — reading, watching tv or playing video games — but the minute we step outdoors and walk, we all start talking and telling stories and laughing. I think it is one of the things we most enjoy together as a family. But this was going to be an “adventure”, in these conditions. Probably 3-4 inches of snow had fallen over the weekend, with a pretty thick layer of ice underneath. Plus the temperatures had been well under freezing — as low as 9 degrees! “Well just see how far we get”, I said. “Maybe just a few feet; let’s at least try to stretch our legs.” So we all bundled up, and out we went.

We were immediately challenged with the condo parking lot: it was covered in ice and packed snow, which had been run over by vehicles, and it was slippery and uneven and treacherous. But since it had “warmed up” to 31 degrees that evening, I was hopeful that if we could stay upright, we would be able to handle the almost 2-mile course down Lindsey Street and around Colonial Estates Park. The sidewalks around Lindsey and the park were similar to our parking lot, alternating between packed snow and ice. Needless to say, we were extremely careful.

We had just gotten a few yards down Lindsey when Cheryl said, “We have been stuck inside for so long. I’m afraid we need more exercise than just a little walking.”
Paul had an idea: “Yeah, someone needs to volunteer to sprain their ankle, and the rest of us will carry them back. That would be a really good workout!”
I said, “I will volunteer to be the one with the sprained ankle — y’all can carry me!”

As we got further along, it became evident that we were going to make it around the circuit — if we could stay upright! It was pretty cold, but nothing we couldn’t handle. Michael said: “It will be fun to come in from this snow, sit by the fire and watch a Christmas movie!”
Paul: “We’re watching the football game when we get in.”
“Well, where is it, will it be a game with some snow at least?”
I laughed: “It’s in New Orleans. In the Superdome. The chance of snow is really low in there!”

I was walking a little bit ahead of the group, and heard a commotion behind me. “What happened?”
“Well, I didn’t fall”, Cheryl said. “But it looked like I was proposing to Paul; I slipped down on one knee!”

A little later I took a mis-step on another slippery stretch. Cheryl said: “It would be bad if we finally get Dad well, and then he falls and breaks something in this snow.”
Paul: “Yeah no one wants a pastor with a broken clavicle!”

Soon afterwards, we were on a stretch of an apartment parking lot that was totally frozen over. I began sliding my feet and said, “On this ice, instead of walking, you can just slide your feet and swing your arms, like you are cross-country skiiing.”
Paul: “Cross country skiiing. Who came up with cross-country skiiing? ‘You know how fun it is to ski down hill? Let’s take that same thing and do it on flat ground where we have to work really hard!'”
Michael: “Cross-country skiiing? Do they really HAVE such a thing?”

We made it through that lot, and around the corner back towards our condo. I had slipped about three times but never fell down. Cheryl had her one “near miss” and another little slip. I don’t know that Paul was ever in “danger.” We made it ALMOST all the way back without any incidents, when we arrived back at the condo parking lot. I reminded everyone how slippery this was, and all of the sudden I heard a yell, and saw Michael on the ice behind me, his legs sprawled out from under him like a newborn deer’s. We were all laughing when Cheryl interrupted: “WAIT: are you ok, before we laugh?” He laughed and said he was — so we all picked up where we left off!

So we made it back, safe and sound. It was an almost two-mile walk, in pretty challenging conditions. It might not have been the smartest thing to do, but it may end up being one of those family times we will still remember years later. I’d encourage you to try a family walk if you don’t do that already. But you might not want to do it in the aftermath of an ice storm!

As soon as we were in, Cheryl said: “Well, that was great; we burned a few calories. What should we do now?”
“Let’s order some pizza and watch the football game!”