Wednesday, January 19, 2022

Don't Eat Snow Ice Cream

Don't Eat Snow Ice Cream
Image Credit:  marcruiz - CCO Public Domain Image via Pixabay

We don't get much snow here in the south.  We might accumulate a few inches every few years or so.  Once in a while, we have a measurable amount, maybe even enough to build a snowman.  Snow days were RARE so when we got one, it was AWESOME!  I remember getting up early for school and watching flurries fall.  This was way back before the electronic age.  We had no email, no computer, no cell phone, no social media - nothing but a television news crew to let us know what counties, if any, would be out of school for the day.  We would watch that never-ending scroll, the one at the bottom of the screen that listed the county school systems and the private schools which had called off school for the day.  They listed the school systems in alphabetical order.  We would watch the counties scroll by time after time after time.  A new county or private school would be added with each scroll.  I couldn't wait for the crawl to scroll by again, praying that our county would be added with the next round.  Finally!  There it was.  We hooped and hollered - so excited to get a snow day.  Every time it snowed, which wasn't that often, my mother would make snow ice cream.  We loved it.  My brother and I would go out and gather up a big stash of fluffy white snow (if it wasn't iced over) and bring it inside for my mother to use to make snow ice cream.  We never thought about what might be in that snow.  It was clean, right?  It was nice white fluffy clean snow.  Well, back then we were kids so we didn't really care.  Well, this past weekend, a few inches of snow fell over our area.  Someone. on social media had completed an experiment that resulted in her telling us, "Don't eat snow ice cream!"

Don't Eat Snow Ice Cream
The Berenstain Bears Snowbears

My children are all grown up now but when they wee younger, I made snow ice cream for them a few times.  Here we are in the middle of another rare snow storm.  As I looked outside to gaze at the beautiful new fallen white stuff that covered our porches, our deck, and hills and mountains beyond our home, I wondered what might be in the snow.  What had I eaten as a child?  What had I fed my kids when they were children?  Discussing this issue with my adult daughters, we decided that since the experiment the  TV lady had done was completed in the city - the city of Atlanta - that must be the reason for the dirty snow.  Surely out here in the county where the air is cleaner, it's safe to enjoy snow ice cream.  But we still wondered so we decided to complete our own experiment. 

Parents and teachers,  do this experiment with your kids.  Show them that pollutants get into our air.  As the snow falls, the pollutants in the air come down with it.  We might not see it when it is mixed in with the snow, but we can see it after the snow melts.

If your kids like doing science experiments, consider getting them a science experiment kit.

Don't Eat Snow Ice Cream
Science Experiment Kit for Kids

I headed for the cabinet to grab a clear glass mug.  Then I stepped outside to gather a hand full of clean snow.  This snow was gathered just outside my deck door where no person or animal had yet touched, disturbed, or tainted the snow.  It was a white and fluffy.  It appeared as clean as could be.  As soon as I packed it into the mug and brought it inside, I noticed a few black spots.  Do you see the spots?

Don't Eat Snow Ice Cream
Clean White Snow Inside A Clear Glass Mug

Now, we waited.  We waited for the snow to melt so we could see anything left inside the mug except for clear water from the melted snow.

A while late, the snow had melted.  At first glance, I thought, "Oh, see?  The water is clear so our nice clean air up here away from the city isn't so bad."  

Then I looked more closely from the top of the mug.  Eeeeewwwwwww

Don't Eat Snow Ice Cream
Dirty Yuck Left Behind After the Snow Melted

Don't Eat Snow Ice Cream

Yuck!  All those black spots - dirt or whatever it is - was mixed into the snow.  That is what we would have eaten if I had made snow ice cream from it.  Actually we would have eaten a bigger helping of yuck because I would have needed a lot more snow for a good batch of snow ice cream.  

Y'all . . . don't eat snow ice cream!

I'm glad I enjoyed snow ice cream in the past.  It helped create some great memories but I will never make it or eat it again.  

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Don't Eat Snow Ice Cream



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