My wife saves things that most people don't save and I like that. For instance, she has a grocery store bag from 1984, a store called Dillon's, in Kansas. Yes, they still had paper bags at that time and this one had a public service message on it. In color, no less.
We had spent time up north prior to this, while in the military, so we weren't all too shocked at the tough winters. We were impressed with some of the tips on the bag, and their sound advice. Especially the 'stranded kit'. Most people in Kansas kept a kit in their car during the winter. It was one you put together, not a kit prepackaged. There would be blankets, heat candles, flares, water, food etc.
We had ours and it looked mighty good one night when I was caught out in a blizzard, 50 miles from home. I made it, as I related on a long ago blog post. Anyway, when you return to the south to live, you forget about that stuff and you just don't carry much gear around in the winter. Oh, I have some insulated coveralls and a few things, but who really expects a mess like what happened in Atlanta today?
There were many thousands of people in traffic jams. They couldn't move. Some were running out of gas. As a guy who has spent a few nights sleeping in a car or a ditch, I can testify that it lacks a certain charm. I sincerely feel for anyone that has yet to make it home tonight. God willing, they will be home soon.
It is easy to laugh at the 'boy scout mentality' folks who are always prepared. Until, that is, a surprise situation like this. Isn't it something how little good that a four wheel drive vehicle will do when you are in a traffic jam?
Here at the author's green retreat, we are fairly mellow. There is 2-3 inches of snow and it is 14 degrees at midnight. Not too bad. The wind chill is around zero, but we have hung around the house most of the day. We watched Justified. That is a crazy bunch of people on that show. I am almost positive those characters were created from folks I may have met. Ha, ha.
I also watched a movie from 1970 starring Sean Connery. He is possibly my favorite actor of all time. This show was The Molly McGuires. It is a story about a real-life group of miners, circa 1876, who strove for change in the harsh treatment of mine workers. Peaceable means failed to produce results, so they turned to violence. Sean Connery plays the role of the group's leader and Richard Harris stars as a detective who goes undercover to destroy the group. It is a good show, though short on action for periods of time.
Mining is one of the few things I've never gotten involved in. My best friend was a miner for a few years. Man, the stories he can tell. I can't imagine that life. On the back of my property, up on the mountain, was a graveyard. It holds the graves from some of those old, traveling mining camps. Just a piece of mountain stone to mark the grave, any etching long since worn away. No doctors, no dentists, no hope. They'd throw up a few shacks to spend those long winters in. People old at 20. Tennessee Ernie Ford's song, 16 Tons, told the story. "Owe my soul to the company store".
Well, I hope y'all are safe and warm tonight, wherever you may be. And by the way, I'd like to thank Dillon's for the bag.
Goodnight. I'm CE Wills.
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