A snow day. The cold winds and sugar-flaked ground that once called out to you like a rarely-seen friend, but now just signal a day full of hard work shoveling. What has changed? You were once completely carefree, running out into the wonderful white specks without a full shield of clothes, even though you knew you could catch a cold. Missing just one second of the magic seemed like a worse tragedy than death to you, but now all you want is to stay home alone talking to your friends through that addictive machine you call a phone. Most of your once-loved childhood friends have drifted away on the wind of popularity, leaving only the ones that are actually true to you. There used to be a time in the fall when you couldn't walk past a leaf pile without careening into it, sending the multi-colored leaves up, up into the sky, then back down to form a golden crown of foliage in your hair. Your parents, who had spent their time raking up those leaves, simply laughed at you, knowing you would grow out of the stage where everything seemed beautiful and amazing. Everything that was important to you back in your childhood now seems rather obsolete, with other requirements and wishes taking its place. A once-craved puppy has moved out of your consciousness and the newest iPhone has moved in. As a youth, spring seemed like an amazing time full of endless options: A new birth. You would walk down the street looking at all the signs of new life: a flower blossom on a cherry tree, a family of deer grazing in a nearby meadow and a mother bird flying overhead with a worm used to feed her young. After the passing of spring, when all of the flowers have bloomed and died and the oppressing heat has filed in, is when some of your favorite memories have taken place. The cool splash of water droplets on your face as you hurdle into the pool, the water creating waves that quarrel and wrestle with each other but slowly fade away into only ripples. The corn that now towers above you is the ideal place for a game of hide and seek; winding around the thick stalks that seem to create an endless maze of excitement and adventure. The passing of childhood into adolescence is similar to dropping a salamander. No matter how you try to contain it in your hands, it will manage to slip away forever, but will never be forgotten.