Snow Days!

Well, all I can say is that January and February have proven the statement made by many that if you don't like the weather in Arkansas, stick around a few hours.

We started off the year with some very cold, and then very snowy weather. I had to miss a teacher training on Jan 4th, because the roads were treacherous. I had hauled myself out of bed very early, knowing that Conway rarely cancels school events for weather. One station had run the banners for cancellations, and it had said Conway schools were closed. Since classes were not even scheduled for that day, I assumed it meant the teacher training was cancelled. Well I turned off the alarm and went back to bed. I woke up at 7:45 and checked the TV again. OUCH!

The previous banner was changed, and it said Conway teacher training delayed. Well, even if the roads HAD been passable, I could not have made it on time, so I ended up having to sacrifice a personal day. I helped with the chicken houses, as if it were a weekend, mak8ing some minor repairs, and then spending most of the day inside with the family. School resumed with little trauma the next day, because things had thawed enough to make the roads OK, if not great.

January was slightly cooler than averages, but generally "nice" until the end. Significant rain, not unusual for this time of year, some wintry mix events with marginal accumulation in parts of the state. Pretty normal. Almost.

The middle of the month got cold. Really cold! we had a week of temps reaching down into single digits! During one 3 day stretch, we had daytime highs in the teens or low 20's, and night-time lows in single digits. One day read 7 F, with a wind-chill of -2 degrees!! I have a picture I wish I could post. It shows two blocks of ice. One, very dirty, came a puddle left from all the rain in December and earlier in January. It had been broken up by a feed truck down at house 1. We had been driving over it in the van and pick-up, but the feed trucks come in around 36 tons of feed, plus the truck weight. It was nearly 4 inches thick.

I decided to test the ice on the pond! I walked out about 10-15 feet from the shore, where the water is still only about knee deep, maybe hip deep. I broke out a chunk that was over 3 inches thick. The next 2 days stayed well below freezing, but I never got a chance to go back out and test again.

Jan. 28th became the next snow event. Actually, this is early, but the weather reports were calling for a storm to move in that night. Concord sent students home early. Many of my students at Conway were anticipating a snow day. Well, it happened. We got another storm during the night, which dumped nearly 8 inches of snow in my front yard. Conway got hit too, so I didn't have to worry about anything, except the fact that we were missing a quiz. My students were heartbroken, I'm sure.

Our Stake conference (a regional church conference, for readers unfamiliar with the term) was a very lightly attended event. None of our congregation from Batesville made it, and I'm sure most of the outer reaches of the stake could not make it. The roads were BAD!! Liz was upset, because she had been asked to speak, and was well prepared. Oh well, as Elder Packer said, when we called our Stake President, he did not want anyone risking life and limb to attend the conference, and we should be at peace, and spend a safe, calm, spiritual day at home with our families.

Conway made it to school that week, as the roads had cleared some on Sunday afternoon. Concord did not go back to school til Wednesday, so I got a chance to take Ian with me to school in Conway. It had been a pretty strange month. Tuesday-Friday of that week, the temps reached up into the 50's, with night lows in the 40's!! Nearly all of the snow that had been plowed in our region had melted. Nearly!

Then we got to Sunday night, Feb. 7th. The forecasts had been building to the possibility of heavy accumulation in most of the northern half of the state. They missed a bit. Most of the state got some snow or wintry mix. The northern half (including Drasco) got 8-15 inches. Most hovered around 8-10, but I had heard some reports of 12-15 from extended family of some friends in regions further north.

we have been home from school since, and I just read that Conway is cancelled for tomorrow as well. 3 Days in a row!!?! I will start a new post to talk about our fun 3 days!