Snowy playtimes

This week it has been snowing and for me the Winter snow is very much a part of boyhood  so I thought I'd write something about it today.
In the main mine was a generation that tended very much to be out of doors playing with friends not least compared to today technology was primitive and not that portable so generally several of you would gather together from a couple of streets and make your way to wherever we were going to play.
Typically we'd do things like making big round balls of snow that we then fashioned into snowmen, begging coal and carrots from our folks to add the eyes, nose and mouth to him.
As well we'd gather smaller balls of snow and take turns throwing them at each other or passing girls for a laugh, the stronger of which would toss them back at us with deadly aim as our coats and pants got all covered in snow.
Our folks weren't worried about that cos we were having fun and they saw it as a healthy activity for a boy to be engaged in.
One that sometimes did trouble them was tobogganing from a step snow covered part of our recreational park down slope or playing ice hockey near the inland waterways in case the ice broke  or we struck each other with our hockey sticks or improvised skiing.
Although I injured myself fracturing my upper arm requiring to be in a sling for a period one year which by bad timing was the time of the 16+ Mock examinations, I always enjoyed the snow.
Snow was always a magical part of our childhoods.