30-Year-Old Snowball

In the spirit of keeping young at heart (as promoted by my recent review of Escape Adulthood), I recommend to you a fun column from today's San Jose Mercury News (my local paper). Mike Cassidy writes about Betty Shamus, who keeps a 30-year-old snowball in her San Jose, CA freezer. Betty has been keeping this snowball in her freezer since the last time it snowed enough to accumulate on the Santa Clara Valley floor. In honor of the snowball's 30-year anniversary, Betty's son Jeff recently launched a website: www.oldestsnowball.com/.

Now, as someone who grew up in Boston, and has only been living in California for 5 years or so, it's a bit hard for me to really connect with the idea of this snowball. I mean, in Boston, you can always figure that there will be more snow before too long. But for Betty and her family, the snowball is a big deal. According to Mike Cassidy this week was "Snow Ball Sunday -- a party with snowball cookies, snowball balloons, snowball cutouts, a collection of old photos and newspaper clippings and a big sign celebrating the icy icon's longevity." And the snowball seems to have caught on with local news crews and other fans, too.

So, if you're looking for a role model to celebrate the ideas of play and finding joy in small things, read Mike's article about Betty Shamus. Have a great day! -- Jen