June Harris's Mother

I've been away from my computer all day and just discovered that I received an e-mail from June this morning that her mother died last night.

Sympathy to June and her family.

I'll post more information as soon as it is available.

Birthday Party

This past week Carole and Cam journeyed to Tupelo to celebrate my mother-in-law's 95th birthday.

Pictured are Carole's sister, Margaret Pickard and Altha Jeffreys Tackett. Not only does Altha have a Plantersville connection through her son-in-law, but she is also the aunt of Jimmy and Sharon Jeffreys.

I stayed home to help get Carly to her basketball game where she was a cheerleader and to a movie with a number of her friends. These seven year olds have an active social life.

Groan Ups

Recently a friend from Plantersville forwarded an internet letter a student wrote concerning retarded grandparents who spend the day at a wreck center.

I wrote on the blog in September of 2008 about my office burning in 1997. Among the treasures lost were a collection of themes my students had written over the years that contained priceless words or phrases. I actually had a student write that his grandfather was retarded from the railroad, and another described her mother's problems with very close veins, but my favor was the one about kids and groan ups. I think this student was on to something; a groan up is someone over 65 as I groan now ever time I get up.

I-20

Yesterday's weather forecast indicated that south of I-20 there would be hail, thunderstorms and possible tornadoes while north of I-20 would have torrential rain. Since our house almost straddles I-20 (we are about a quarter of a mile north of the Interstate), I hoped we might avoid both instead last night we received both; hail the size of golf balls, thunderstorms and torrential rain.

Haiti Hygiene Drive

The following message was posted on Gloria's site:


The Town of Plantersville will be participating in "Haiti Hygiene Kit Drive" Suggested list of items are...Antibacterial Cream, Antibacterial Soap, Baby or Hand Wipes, Baby Powder, Band Aids, Combs, Cotton Balls, Deodorant, Diaper Rash Creams, Diapers, Hydrogen Peroxide, Lotion, Mouthwash, Rubbing Alcohol, Saline Solution, Sanitary Feminine Products, Soap, Toothpaste, Toothbrush, Tylenol. Items may be dropped of at Plantersville Town Hall until 5:00 P.M. Monday Jan. 25, 2010.

The Winter of 50 or 51

The recent siege of cold weather reminds me of the winter of 50 or 51, someone help me with the correct date, when we endured snow and ice and cold weather for several weeks. I recall, as I think I've written before, the electricity being off for a long period of time, though we had ours turned on before some because Jerry Bishop was working for the electricity company, and we happened to be on the same line as his in-laws.

Would some of you share memories of that winter?

June Harris wrote: "I'm pretty sure it was '51. We'd had a smaller one a couple of years earlier, in 1949 if I recall correctly, but the bigger one was the second. We had kerosene heat in our house, as well as a kerosene stove for cooking, so we didn't suffer much. We did have to melt ice for water as all the pipes were frozen. And we did get our electricity on earlier than some because my uncle, Jerry Bishop, worked for the electric company and they hooked up the lines to our house along with those to my grandparents, his in-laws."
June

Frozen

Hope the hummingbirds like frozen drinks. As have most of you, we have been enduring the cold weather for over a week though it was warmer yesterday.

As you may know, due to water main breaks the city of Jackson is virtually without water and largely shut down; since we live in Clinton and Carole works in Ridgeland, we have not been affected just staying inside trying to keep warm.