winter

Brr….

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In the last couple of weeks, the St. Louis area has suffered through some strong, at least for here, winter storms. During the first, we were on the border between snow and ice. At our home, southwest of St. Louis, we spent the first two days of the initial storm as a target for freezing rain and sleet. Only the final night gave us some of the snow that had been seen north of us.  As a result, we had a layer of ice on the ground, on streets, and on driveways which was then covered by snow.  A few days later, another blast of winter weather added several additional inches of snow.

While many others, like my nephew who lives a short distance from Grand Traverse Bay and Lake Michigan, have far worse winter weather and far more snow, they are better prepared for what that brings. Still, I wonder if they sometimes laugh about our weather woes or have sympathy for those who rarely have this type of weather.   

I will admit that I probably have difficulty understanding the reactions to winter weather myself. I grew up in northeast Arkansas. As school aged children, we were usually happy when we had more than one “snow day” in a year. More often, we had none. My second Army assignment was in Germany. There, and like in this photo from Austria, we had much more snow than in Arkansas, but I don’t remember it ever bringing things to a standstill. Instead, communities and drivers there seemed to be prepared for snow and took it in stride. I saw this in multiple assignments in Europe and in the U.S.

But the recent days have made me wonder, why do we not prepare for winter weather and why do react the way we do? Preparation, at least on the surface, seems fairly simple. We should keep enough basic food and other necessities in our homes in case we cannot visit stores for a few days. Instead, it seems that purchasing these basics, particularly food, is never thought about until the last minute. Store shelves are emptied where there should be simple items like bread, eggs, and other everyday items. Little or no thought is given to what will happen if we lose power or if our roads cannot be cleared as rapidly as snow or ice falls.   

Perhaps our businesses should have plans in place to either operate with limited staff or to close for a few days if necessary.  Schools seem to be able to do this, so why not others? Also, our stores should have enough supplies like snow shovels and salt or other ice melting chemicals on hand to meet the needs of the community. This clearly did not occur during our recent bad weather as people needed to call or visit multiple locations, some miles away, to simply get enough salt to clear their sidewalks.

During the first part of our recent bad weather, I had a great deal of sympathy for our HOA president who was receiving email and other complaints in the middle of the storm asking when the streets would be cleared so that someone could go to work or visit a store. He tried to explain that clearing the roads while the snow and ice continued to fall would be of little value. Still the complaints kept coming (along with a variety of reasons for why the roads needed to be cleared immediately). Yet after the main part of the storm had passed and the roads were first plowed, because of the ice the roads rapidly covered over again and driving conditions were no better. Others decided that warnings from area police and highway departments to travel only in emergency did not apply to them so they could travel as usual and create danger for our first responders and others.

All this occurring even after multiple warnings over several days before the storms. I had to wonder, “What would have happened had the winter weather been worse? And how are we teaching our children to be prepared for similar events in the future?”

Snow, Snow, Snow, Snow… and Our Wildlife Friends

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Do you remember this song from the movie “White Christmas”? Singing were Bing Crosby and three others on the train heading to an inn in New England where, unfortunately, the snow had yet to appear that winter. As I listened to the weather forecast for this weekend that song came to mind.

We live a short distance southwest of St. Louis and the forecast called for all types of winter weather – snow, sleet, freezing rain, high winds, and low temperatures. In our case, we were expected to be on the line between snow and ice. The forecasters were pretty accurate. The bad weather started with light sleet or freezing rain which began around 10:00 PM, Saturday evening. This lasted until mid-day Sunday when the snow moved in and was mixed with the sleet until early evening. Then the heavier snow arrived and continued until early Monday morning. Driving became dangerous throughout the area beginning Sunday morning and continues even today.

Sunday evening before the heavier snow began, I looked out our rear window and saw two deer run across our backyard. It was dark enough that I really saw only the shadowed outline of their bodies and the bright white flash of their tails. This made me wonder, “How do these wild creatures – deer, squirrels, rabbits, and birds – survive the cold temperatures? If we didn’t have our warm homes, could we humans survive as well?”. It se seems that wildlife can survive, perhaps in nests or other sheltered places. Perhaps, they survive by clustering in groups to share warmth. Or maybe they simply know locations that offer some form of protection. They must because otherwise how could they survive – yet they do. They survive fire and drought, snow and ice, hurricanes and tornados. If they didn’t, we would have no wildlife today.

In this world we live. Humans, the supposed most intelligent species. Humans with technology and science and knowledgeable people who can help us stay safe and survive. But instead of using these tools, we select instead to pay little or no attention to warnings from warnings we are given to avoid travel and stay off the road. We seem to think that driving to the store to pick up a loaf of bread or a six-pack is more important than our safety or that of others, like our first responders. But perhaps we can’t survive without these items. So, we ignore others and try – maybe just to prove we are superior or smarter than those trying to protect us.

Maybe we do survive without problem but often we don’t. We wreck our cars – get hurt or harm others or get lucky and only get stranded. Then what do we do? Do we take responsibility for our actions, or do we do as a person I read about today. This person ignored all the advice and warnings, drove on unsafe roads, and became stranded when stuck in the snow. Their response – claims that there were no warnings (even though warnings were issued days before the storms) and complaints about how long it took first responders to rescue them. They were not injured, or injure others, yet they should have been placed at the top of the rescue list so they wouldn’t get cold. I know I should not judge others but using a quote from a popular movie, “Stupid is as stupid does!”.

This simply, sometimes, makes me wonder, “Who best deserves to survive, our wildlife friends or those who regularly take actions like the above?”

Thoughts of Christmas Past

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Perhaps I am not being politically correct, or woke, by using the words “Christmas Past” as opposed to saying, “Holidays Past.” If this is correct, I apologize to those who may be offended. No, I don’t offer apologies. My past is full of celebrations of Christmas. We recognized that some religions celebrate in different ways and respect that. But, for me and my family, we celebrated Christmas. Holidays had many meanings with Christmas, birthdays, and several other days being recognized as holidays for most Americans.

My thoughts here focus mainly on days, events, activities, and more which mostly occurred when I was a young child although some also occurred in my teen years. Things then were different than today. Life seems as though it may have been much simpler, but when I say this, it may be because it was viewed through a child’s eyes. Your memories may be different because each of us had unique lives. I was raised in a small town in rural Arkansas where the focus was agriculture. Many events that we enjoyed were in a small city a few miles away. I suspect the lives of children in large cities were vastly different from mine. The memories here may change over time but reflect what is important to me today.

Family – Family was important at Christmas. Early on Christmas morning, we arose and opened presents in our living room where the Christmas tree was located. This was followed by a trip to my maternal grandmother’s home. While some of my uncles lived far away and could not be there each year, those who lived locally were always there. We typically had a large, pot-luck dinner and then opened presents near the Christmas tree. We returned home late in the afternoon. I don’t remember visiting my paternal grandparent’s the same way. Perhaps this was because they lived next door. Or maybe it was because my paternal grandmother passed away when I was ten years old followed by my grandfather when was fourteen. Still, we tried to see them and my uncle’s family who lived just down the street on either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.

Christmas was one of the few holidays that we could be sure my father would be with the family. He never had work on Christmas Day. Other holidays, which might fall during the busy agriculture season might require him to work but never Christmas. This made it even more special.

Santa’s Helpers – Like almost every child of my age, I was taught about Santa Claus from my earliest years. He was this nice gentleman with a white beard, a red suit, who came down your chimney each year to leave presents for good little girls and boys. He had innumerable elves who worked for him creating the presents and he travelled by a flying sleigh pulled by eight tiny reindeer. It never occurred to us that many of these things were illogical. How could he visit everyone on a single night? What would happen if your home did not have a chimney? And, if his sleigh could fly, why did he need those reindeer?

Each year, our town had a community Christmas gathering that was held in the high school gymnasium. Adults had the opportunity for social interaction and the children went home with gifts from Santa. Yes, Santa was there each year – red suit, white beard, and all. But we never saw the sleigh.

This event made me realize that to do all the things he was credited with Santa must have needed helpers. Helpers who dressed like him and brought presents to good boys and girls. I was only about four or five at the time. What caused this realization? My parents were driving us to the celebration and running a few minutes late. As we entered the parking lot, we saw a neighbor’s pickup truck just ahead of us. And who should get out of the truck? No less that Santa. And I recognized the truck and told my parents that it could not be Santa driving that truck. How could that be? I give my mother credit for quick thinking since she explained to me that Santa could not be everywhere at one time so he had helpers that took his place delivering gifts and they borrowed trucks or cars from older families with grown children so they would not need sleighs. This didn’t answer the many other questions about Santa but for a young child it was enough. I was simply happy enough to go inside, meet Santa’s helper, and get my gift. But even today, I wonder how Santa, or one of his helpers could get into a house with no chimney.

Trees – The first Christmas trees I remember were live trees. I don’t remember if they were purchased at a local store or farmer’s market or if they were cut from a local forest.  While my memory is not clear about this, they were small, probably no more than four or five feet tall. The number of ornaments was probably not large but there were many lights and lots of tinsel. The first artificial tree was quite different. It was about the same height but had branches made from wood and thin pieces of something like aluminum foil very similar to tinsel although a bit larger. There was no green to be seen. While the ornaments were still used but the electric lights were now a fire hazard and stayed in their boxes. For light, a spinning wheel of four colors was used with a spotlight behind it. This was placed on the floor near the tree and shined up into the tree. When I looked today, I still saw trees like this available online. I don’t remember ever having another live tree although the first artificial tree was replaced with an artificial green tree and lights were purchased that could be used.

Gifts or Presents – Presents were never large but were selected and given with love and with care. When I was very young, they were often toys but as I aged the toys were commonly replaced by clothes or things more useful. Some of my favorite toys were tractors and attachments from the local John Deere dealer where my father worked. These toys were sturdy, or maybe a better word is rugged, and spent many hours being played with both indoors and in the outdoor sandbox. Similar toys can still be purchased today in almost any large department store, but the quality is not the same. Oh, how I wish I had kept those toy tractors given the prices that toys of that vintage command today.

Trains – Like many young boys, and maybe some young girls, I loved trains. A railroad ran through our town, and I was always happy to watch the trains as they passed by. Just like real trains, toy trains were always fun whether pull toys, wind-up toys, or electric trains. Even trains in books. Do you remember “The Little Engine That Could”? In the nearby city, the Firestone tire dealership sold Lionel trains (yes, Lionel has been around that long). Each year for a few weeks before Christmas they installed a Lionel layout at the front of the store. It was simple, just a loop of track, or maybe two, on a table. In the center of the loop, there were a few shelves for displaying individual train cars or accessories. But the exciting part were the trains that ran around the circle. After what seems to be years of wishing, I got my first train set. It was simple – an “diesel locomotive, a couple of cars, and a caboose along with a loop of track. Rather than an actual railroad name, the cars were labelled as “Lionel Lines”. I played with it for years until it finally wore out from use.

Parades – Our town was so small that we did not have a Christmas parade. Instead, we went to the nearby city to see their parade. It probably wasn’t a huge parade although it seemed that way to a small child. A few high school bands marched in the parade along with the band from the local college. There were also a few floats and some other marching units. While all was enjoyable, the thing I remember most is the ROTC Drill Team from the college. They had brightly polished helmets and carried military rifles. They twirled their rifles and did other drill moves that fascinated those watching them.

Snow – I can only remember once or twice in my childhood when we had a white Christmas. It really wasn’t expected but always wished for. There was nothing unique about this. It was true across much of the south. If we had snow, it usually came late in January or even later. I can, however, remember one Christmas that was white. It was not necessarily because of the snow itself but because of a family visiting some friends. Their kids were about the same age as I was, and they had never seen snow. Of course, that should have been expected because they had lived in Florida their entire lives.