ICE STORM: POST #46

I am sitting at this computer right now looking outside at ice everywhere! The streets are covered and we are being advised to not get out at all because it would be too dangerous. Offices and businesses are closed. We were just about ready to leave for a doctor's appointment in Little Rock but the office called and said that they would not be open.

This reminds me of the first BIG ice storm that I remember. It was in the very early part of 1957 and I had never seen anything like it at Herman Junction. Ice covered the trees and the limbs looked like pure crystal. The roads were completely covered and we could get outside for short periods of time and skate on that ice as long as we could stand the cold. While we kids enjoyed the time off from school our parents had problems to deal with. Public worked almost stopped. It was wonderful that we used wood to heat our house because we had plenty of wood stored up for the winter.

I suppose the biggest problem that people had was trying to keep the food in the deep freezers from being ruined. The electricity was off for several weeks after the ice had melted because the REA couldn't get all the power lines back up and power restored as quickly as they can do it now. Barbara's family had a freezer full of food and cooked on a gas stove. They had a water pump that could be thawed out and a good water supply. They invited people who could get out on a tractor or just walk to their house to come and eat with them because the food in the freezer was going to ruin anyway. The electricity at their house was off for exactly two weeks and in some areas it was off longer than that.

My Mom cooked on a stove heated with Kerosene all the time that I was at home. So, we had plenty of food, water, and other necessities. We did not have indoor facilities and maybe you have heard the old saying, "Colder than a well diggers hind end". Well, you didn't have to be a well digger to have a cold hind end during that time. We just made sure that there was plenty of kindling and wood carried in the house and we made it fine. We had lamps to read by or to play rook or some other game. We would play games like, "I Spy" and "I see something that you don't see" and we kept busy. After dark I would often get to pop the corn and I hated it when someone would come and start grabbing a handful before the dish pan was full. While I popped they grabbed and I wanted an equal opportunity at that dish pan.

I was fortunate that someone would pick me up and get me to town because we were playing in the Northeast Arkansas Invitational Basketball Tournament in Jonesoboro at Arkansas State College. They managed somehow to get us to town and the bus managed to get us to the game. My Lady had an old battery radio and she listened to the game at home.

We were happy when things cleared up at Herman Junction and we could get back to school to see our friends and basketball games could resume. Even at Herman Junction a feller could get cabin fever after so much time. As I said, ice is everywhere today as I look out my window so I think that I'll just pop up some corn after while and if you are not too busy, come on over and we'll pretend that we are at Herman Junction again where everything is alright.