I was raised in an Air Force family and was taught at an early age to watch the weather, predict the weather and realize the weather will kill you if you don’t respect it.
People who fly around in that stuff realize real quick what weather can do to them. Navy folk know that about the sea. Army folk know about mud and frostbite.
I also had Scoutmasters who were military men and taught us the finer points about weather. One of their favorite sayings was, "If your feet are cold put on your hat." I even got a Weather merit badge.
I also learned the weather changes every day and you don’t always get it right.
The weather is always news and you better pay attention to it.
Cold weather
I’ve lived in Clarksdale four years and seen two significant winter storms.
I guess global warming is not that big a thing in the Mississippi Delta.
The storm of 2021 dumped six inches of fluffy snow on Coahoma County. It coated trees and buildings and was light, powdery and pretty.
What we got this week was gritty, heavy and dangerously slick. Add to that a wind chill of well below zero degrees and this storm was not pleasant.
I’ve always felt the line between young and old folk is how much they like snow.
And I must be getting old, because this winter weather was no fun.
Helping the hurting
I got stuck coming out of my garage on Monday.
A quick call to a friend and an East Mississippi logging chain solved the problem.
I spotted a pickup spinning his wheels on the underpass on Riverside Tuesday and let him borrow my chain.
My little truck and slick tires couldn’t do the job.
I told him to bring the chain by the office when he got finished. His word was good and true.
I gave three people a ride in the little white truck this week, too.
They looked cold as they walked down the street. I was warm and out of the wind.
It was too easy to offer them a ride and carry them home.
I’m proud to say each thanked me profusely. That warmed my heart.
Good neighbors
I bumped into a friend at the store Monday who buying food for shut-ins.
Care Station cooked and delivered meals this week.
The City Auditorium ‘Warming Station’ opens anytime the temperature drops below 32. But the snow kept people inside and it was only used by the regulars this week.
Good folks in the South take care of their neighbors.
County to the rescue
I was glad to see the county come to the rescue early Tuesday morning.
They didn’t wait for a declaration or call a stuffy meeting and vote.
They cranked up those motor graders and tractors and went to work.
Do you realize how good an operator you have to be to plow snow on a paved road and not tear up the street or your blade?
Playing in the snow
I looked for kids playing in the snow this week.
I was hoping for a picture of someone on a sled or making a snowman.
I found neither.
When I was young a snowman was a standard feature in Momma’s front yard when we got snow.
Being pulled on a homemade sled and hunting in the snow came as I got older.
I guess kids today are smarter. Video games in a warm bedroom are obviously more comfortable than a day outside in the snow.
Floyd Ingram is the Editor of your Clarksdale Press Register. Call him at 662-627-2201 with your favorite winter memory.
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