Who Were You When

by deborawephraim@gmail.com January 15, 2021

This morning I wanted to get up and produce a YouTube of our winter blizzard.

Just a short update. Yes, I’ve been busy working on the next novel in the series As A Lovely Song. I have currently finished rewriting the first two hundred pages and am honing in on the last fifty to one hundred pages.

The problem is you don’t just produce a YouTube without preparation. Not that I can see at least. Since I don’t have the equipment to film and record and whatever else it takes for one of those complicated projects I’ll have to go back to the old typing of a post.

No wonderful pictures of five feet of snow and wind blowing that snow to kingdom come. But we didn’t receive five feet of snow, and although the wind is blowing it’s not bad right here. The chair outside my door does have about a foot of fresh snow on it and that is impressive.

I’ve come from past eras that did see worthwhile blizzards. We had one blizzard in approximately 1973 or 74 when we were snowed in without electricity for at least a week. Thankfully we had a wood stove and an outhouse. The outhouse hadn’t been used for quite some time, but it was still functional. We also had a gas cook stove which was helpful.

One of the most recent winters of interest was when our youngest son was still a resident here at home. Old Fuzzy was gone on a mission trip overseas—that’s when these things like to hit. There was just Buddy and I keeping the home fires lit.

Buddy had finished evening chores and it was beginning to get dark. There was an ice storm where the temperatures were just warm enough for a cold rain then once the temperature began to drop it turned to ice, coating trees and bushes in heavier and heavier layers of ice. The electrical wires across the road from our house were dancing in the high wind and at one point created quite a show when on occasion they would get too close and arc.

We could hear the electric company crews just up our country road trying to keep people’s electricity repaired. We were warned we might be out of electricity all night which does happen when you live out in the country as we do.

Now, this is what sets some of us country folk apart from city dudes. Buddy was in from chores, our electricity had gone off, we had popped our popcorn and were setting up a game of Canasta by a kerosene lamp. We got a call from some recently moved to our area city people. “They’re setting up cots at the neighborhood center in town,” they said. “You want to go with us?”

As you can imagine we were shocked that anyone would want to try to brave a ten-mile drive through a blizzard into town to spend the evening trying to sleep on a cot surrounded by strangers. We were very sad indeed when our electricity was only off for about an hour. We continued playing our game by the lamplight then went to bed.

Somewhere there is a tribute to farmers. Paul Harvey did one such tribute. It doesn’t cover most farmers today because our farmscape has changed, but my family and Old Fuzzy’s family go back in the farmer category a long way. As my Adorable Cousin is renowned for saying, “If my ancestors could walk across this continent with bacon grease dripping from their lips…” and that’s another story.

It is a question to ponder on, who were you when…

I Corinthians 1:

26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:

27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;

28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:

29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.

30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

31 That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.