First Snow of March

My Dad isn’t one to jump onto strange ideas. He doesn’t look for medical cures, apply new-age practices in his life or give any credence to most conspiracies. Don’t try to tell him there was no moon landing. Reincarnation? Never. Aliens? Not likely. Demons? It’s in the Bible, so yes. Ghosts? Well….. he actually does believe in ghosts.

He’s not going to be brewing any chamomile to get himself to sleep any time soon, you know? All that aside, he’s a very practical, pragmatic person.

For a few of my teenage years my dad lived and worked in Indiana due to a local St. Louis layoff. He would come home on the weekends before driving back up for the work week. While in Indiana he befriended an elderly neighbor woman named Red. She would cook for Dad and his roommates and they would help her out in return.

I imagine those guys needed a lot of help.

Now that I’m older, I can just imagine how disgusting a rented space for a bunch of work-week men must have been. I’m really glad he had Red to look after him!  

One day Dad was deep frying something-or-other, and the sizzling oil ended up falling on the top of his bare foot. He explained that the pain was excruciating and his skin swelled and blistered.  There was no hope of putting on a shoe, much less going to work the next day. 

After spending a few miserable hours like this, Red found out and brought over a jar of clear liquid and a paper towel.

She dampened the paper towel with the liquid and placed it over the burned top of his foot. Within an hour the swelling was down, the pain decreased and soon was able to put on a shoe.  When he asked her what the liquid was she told him, “The first snow of March.” No other ingredients.

Just a collection of the melted first snow of March in a mason jar.

Now I know you’re thinking, “What the heck is wrong with you all?”  I would have agreed with you except my practical and pragmatic Dad brought this knowledge into our family. It has become our simple burn cure as well. 

If you catch simple oven, oil pop, or curling iron burns quickly and then wrap the burn with a First Snow of March soaked paper towel it will not blister or even be raised.

It may leave a red mark at the burn site and that may stay for some time but the pain will subside. It really truly works. Placebo? Maybe. I welcome that placebo effect because I have found it has never let me down! We have used this on small children too so that puts that theory to rest.

Hmmm, it’s still puzzles me too, after all of these years.

Now, every March, you will find my family sterilizing jars and having bowls at the ready to put outside to collect the precious first snow as it falls. If one of us isn’t home or working the others will add more bowls to their collection.

We look a little nutty outside with our mixing bowls and salad bowls, all lined up on the deck or porch.

Some years it’s precious little or no snow and the previous year will last us until next year. I collect multiple jars and hand it out to my daughter or anyone else who needs it.  You can look in my pantry now and see jars marked “First Snow of March.” I find that it still works after 2 years, but I haven’t really had to go beyond that to test it out. 

Miraculous, I know! 

I have tried to find out what it is about the First Snow of March that makes this burn cure. There is very little on the topic that I was able to find except the blogpost from the  multitalented writer, painter, sculptor and illustrator Emily of The Nest out of Ireland. Check out her blog post here.   There are no other articles to find otherwise and I can’t imagine what could be different about The First Snow of March that any other snow.

The luck of the Irish, I guess?

I know you are picturing me with a tinfoil hat and a framed photo of Marshall Applewhite, but I’m inviting you to try it next March, if we’re so lucky (or unlucky) to get late snowfall.

 Let me know if the magic extends to your family below in the comments!