I knew if I was wrong about the snow someone would correct me, and they did.
In the third week of March 1968 it snowed more than 10 inches. I was just 7 years old, and don’t really remember it.
The photo on the from page of the Journal that week was titled Third Day of Spring and featured Kay Morris and Myra Collins walking in the snow on their lunch break. School was out for the day, but the lost time was set to be made up that Saturday.
Lisa McNeece
In my granddaddy’s Purely Personal that week: “The ‘freak’ snow last Friday slowed travel considerably. In all there must have been 10 or 15 inches falling and more than usual, sticking. Beginning before day Friday, it snowed almost continuously thru the day, and when early risers arose Saturday morning, it was still snowing. The third day of spring brought 10 inches of snow.”
As promised last Wednesday, the weather dropped consistently during the day. At one point my phone read 70 degrees for the current temperature with a winter storm watch banner across the top.
Joel was scheduled to leave Thursday morning for the Calhoun City Wildcats’ and Lady Wildcats’ games in Jackson on Thursday and Friday. He left Wednesday night to get ahead of the bad weather. I’m glad he did.
It started sleeting during the night and sleeting consistently until around 8 a.m. Like the week before, the yard was a beautiful white, but this wasn’t snowy powder, it was more than a half-inch of ice.
I wasn’t about to walk to work when I took a look at my slick driveway. Marshall came and got me in his four-wheel-drive truck and dropped me off at the back of the Journal. The front was a solid sheet of ice.
The ice stayed around until Friday afternoon, but there were no power outages reported.
So we endured another Thursday of winter weather.
Spring break is always cold and rainy, and the forecast looks like this one will be that way as well.
Bruce Chamber of Commerce has reset their annual banquet for the third time– this time Monday, March 16.
The banquet was first set for the last Thursday in February when it snowed and then reset for last Thursday, when it was iced over.
At our house, the snow/ice casualty is probably the Mahonia Holly next to our carport. It is probably close to 13 years old and one of our favorite plants in the yard. Although, now, it would be more like a tree than a plant.
The heavy snow left it bent over to the ground, but the front half of the roots still in the ground. We have propped it up and tried to get the back part in the ground, but it may be too far gone.
•••
We read where a former Bruce man had died in a house fire in Texarkana, AR.
Dewey Melton, 68, was found dead near the front door of his house early Monday morning. His wife, Loy Helen, was found inside the home and taken to the hospital with serious injuries. The Meltons’ son, who lived next door, was also sent to the hospital for smoke inhalation.
Dewey is the younger brother of Doris Shoemake of Bruce.
There has been so much tragedy lately.
•••
What I’m reading– Aquarium by David Vann. The book is about a 12 year old Seattle girl who visits the Aquarium every day after school until her single mother gets off from work and picks her up. She forges a friendship with an elderly man there who loves fish as much as she does. He helps her to crack open a family secret that will change her life.
What I’m watching– Just finished season 3 of House of Cards on Netflix. I like that they release the entire season at one time, but if you watch it all within a week, it surely makes for a long year until the next season comes out.
You may email Lisa at lisamcneece@gmail.com and follow her on twitter @lisamcneece