Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Into the Void: Snow Pretty, But Treacherous

With John Miller Something unusual was experienced by everyone in the state Wednesday night, Thursday and Friday morning, as we Southerners had what amounted to a blizzard in Arkansas.

The snow fell relentlessly, blanketing everything in its silent shroud of white flakes, looking beautiful, but hiding danger beneath its surface.

Traffic on Interstate 30 was a mess as several motorists found themselves either stopped on the shoulder or stuck in the median. State highways and county roads were no better, and, in fact, was much worse in most instances as the lack of traffic allowed the snow to pile up.

Schools were let out because of weather conditions, and events were canceled. Many who could stay home from work did, while others were foolhardy and ventured out into the mess.

Shelves at the local grocery store were barren of bread and milk as people, fearing the worst, stocked up on these staples.

Snow was all anyone wanted to talk about as well. No one could remember ever seeing such a storm in their lifetimes. Some said the last time they can remember anything close was in the mid-1970s, others said it was longer than that.

Personally, the last major snow storm I can recall was in the early 1960s, when I was about five. The memories are hazy, but I do remember walking out onto the front porch and seeing everything in my young world covered with the snow's whiteness.

Then it was fun. Now it isn't. These days, this much snow is nothing more than a dangerous headache, no matter what the aesthetics of the situation may be.

Let's face it, snow melts, turning into water. The water freezes overnight and turns into ice. This is what we face driving on after a snowfall. And, when it comes to driving, we should be honest and admit the best drivers in the world aren't around here.

We are not equipped to deal with much snow. It is not in our genetic makeup as Southerners and Arkansans. Nature designed this area and its people for warmer weather and thinner blood.

On the other hand, the winter of 2000 will be one for the record books and something everyone can tell their future grandchildren about. It will be our turn to tell the stories of how we had to walk five miles, uphill both ways, to get to the store, school or whatever.

The bottom line is snow looks much better on post cards and paintings than in real life. In the real world snow becomes an ugly brown slush causing nothing but hardship and problems. It certainly doesn't belong below the Mason-Dixon line.

Personally, I'd rather see tropical weather, plenty of sun, a beach, warm water and have nothing to do but enjoy it. Aloha.