Finally, Some Snow!

Last Sunday the temperature dropped from the high 50s to the 20s. Rain moved in, turned to freezing rain, then sleet, and finally snow before tapering off the next morning. Since it happened this way TDOT was powerless to do anything about the roads. The kids didn’t go to school until Friday. I only got Monday off. Today our snowman has shrunk to the size of a coke can.

SNOW, BEAUTIFUL SNOW! I fell in love with snow in my childhood. Of course, I have not lived anywhere that snow has been a major inconvenience or hardship for me as an adult like it is for folks north of us, or here when I was a boy for that matter. For me, snow was a ticket out of school, and we got lots of snow days. Of course, we paid for it by never getting a spring break and having to make up some snow days on Saturdays. It was worth it. Snow makes a wonderful playground.

The snow we got this week has been the only snow that really covered the grass--much less cover the roads--this winter. Ben came in with a slab of ice that was 1.5 inches thick saying, “Hey Dad, this is under all the snow in the yard.” Had we not gotten the sleet and snow after the freezing rain the ice would have truly paralyzed us. As it was you could get a little traction if you really had to be out and about.

The kids went out and played. They found an icy hill to sled on and all sorts of things to do in the woods. The boys played so hard they wore themselves out and would be sound asleep by the time I got home from work. Good times, great memories.

BASKETBALL IS OVER. The Upward Basketball season has come to an end. Nate’s team played a hard game last weekend but lost. There was supposed to be a makeup game last week (they had snow here one Saturday while we were at Disney World) but all the ice and snow we had took care of all of that. We went to the award night Friday night where there was pizza and games.

PINE CAR RACES. Pine car races have been a big part of our routine every February since Ben was in Kindergarten. Now that Nate is in the 5th grade we are winding that tradition up. Nate had a car in the Awana Grand Prix a week ago Wednesday (the 26th) where he came in fifth place. He went on to run his car in the county RA race yesterday but didn’t make the top five. We were asked to set up our track for the Cub Scout Pack’s Pinewood Derby last Saturday but Nate didn’t bother to make a car because he’s already crossed over to Boy Scouts and is now ineligible to compete as a Scout.

It’s sort of sad to see this come to an end. I told someone at the RA race yesterday that I may make a car for myself next year and race with the leaders now that I don’t have any boys doing cars any more.

AN ERA IS ENDING. Mrs. Mary Yates passed away and her funeral was last Saturday. She was 94. Her husband, Mr. Robert passed away in May 2011, and with Aunt Mar and several others of their generation gone I really feel like an era has come to an end.

Mrs. Mary, Mary Bell as Mom and Aunt Mar always called her, has been a close friend of our family for as long as I can remember. It was normal for her and Aunt Mar to call and chat before going to bed which could easily be after midnight. Mr. Robert and Mrs. Mary had no children and weren’t closely related to the rest of the Yates family in our community. That didn’t matter. They loved everyone and all their neighbors came to know them as Uncle Robert and Aunt Mary. If the Lord graces me and Vicki to live as long and stay in good health as they did I hope we can be like them.

Joe