I've had my share of special memories while growing up in Wallins. Some of the most memorable of these were of wintertime. It is appropriate that I remember them at this time. As I write it is Christmas Eve 2000. It is very cold outside here in Louisville with a couple of inches of old snow on the ground.
Winters in Wallins Creek always seemed to have just the right mix of weather conditions. It was seldom, bitter cold, but occasionally we had stretches of very cold weather. We also got frequent snowfall, but seldom got dumped on. I remember that this did happen occasionally and we enjoyed a number of white Christmases. This always had a very special magic for a young boy.
Fresh snow always meant sledding. I particularly remember one time when there was a fresh new snow. A whole gang of us went sledding. The hill sat at the top of a field, which belonged to Stan Wood's grandpa. The hill was situated near Stan's house. What made this day special was that there was a whole gang of friends there. We were kids that knew how to have good clean fun together. It also didn't hurt that school was cancelled because of the snow.
Stan Wood, Mary Janet Saylor, (now Wood), Barbara Crider, Judy Saylor and Carolyn and Shelia Lee ... were all there. I wonder why I remembered all the girls but not the guys.
After a while we became exhausted and cold because it was a very cold day and a very hard and tiring climb to the top of the hill through deep snow. We had also gotten wet from falling in the snow. We went to Carolyn and Shelia Lee's house to get warm. Their house was nearby. There is nothing like the exhilaration you feel while playing out in the snow. I have never been snow skiing, but I imagine it is the same feeling, maybe more intense. There were always the snowball fights that ensued. Of course we usually made a snowman. I think what enhanced the whole experience would be if it was a school day that was cancelled. School days that were cancelled because of snow was something all of us dreamed about.
I was always looking for slick places to slide. Once a place was found, due to frozen puddles or packed snow worn slick, I would take a running start and then slide as far as I could. The trick was not to fall down while doing this. This was not only embarrassing, but would require you to do it all over again.
When it was cold for a long sustained period, the creeks would freeze over. We would play on the ice. We could slide for long distances. Remember the classic movie, "It's A Wonderful Life". I had never seen that movie as a kid, but when I saw it as an adult, I could relate to the scene in the movie where the boys are sliding down the hill on a shovel. One boy went too far, though, and fell through the ice. Nothing would end this fun like getting wet. This would send you home to change clothes. It was extremely hard to get in the house for a clothes change and get back out again. This would involve an interrogation from Mom about the circumstances of how I got wet. She would say, "I think you had better stay inside, or you will catch your death of cold." I was constantly pursuing my death of cold, but thankfully "Old Lightning" never caught up with it.
The beauty of a fresh fallen snow with the mountain backdrop was near breathless. It was always such an awesome picture. Straight out of a Currier and Ives post card. I especially loved to walk in the snow catching snowflakes on my tongue. The quietness and serenity of the landscape was so peaceful. The only sound that you could hear would be the snow crunching under your feet with each step that you took. All other sounds were also muffled. You would have to scream to be heard at a distance.
Another of my favorite things to do was to catch hold of a car bumper and slide behind the car. I would squat down behind and ride sometime for miles. I never gave too much thought to the shoe leather I must have scraped off, never mind the danger of falling off and getting hurt. Roads were seldom plowed or salted, so they stayed slick for long periods of time. This was great to a young boy, but must have made life very dangerous for adults. Funny, but kids don't spend a whole lot of time thinking about how things affect adults.
Another time that was fun to me was when the electricity would go out. This was always a fun time for kids. No chores to do. Everything was placed on hold. Once we had an ice storm that preceded a snowstorm. The ice caused a lot the electric power lines to snap. No one in Wallins had electricity for days. The Herrell's ... J.T. and Mabel and their children, Jesse, Mary Rose and Betty ... lived across the street from us. As I recall, without electricity, they had no way to keep warm. So they came over to stay at our house. As you may recall, our house was equipped with grates. These were not just for looks, as we proved at this emergency. Even though they could not heat an entire house, they provided enough heat to survive without any other heat source. Light to see by was provided by candles and lamps. This always provoked thoughts of how it was for early pioneers before electric lights.
The few days that we spent together with the Herrells during this time were so much fun. Our time was spent in front of the open fire, talking, playing games, working puzzles or other such activities. We also slept like cowboys all huddled around an open campfire. We pooled our food together to have our meals. We actually didn't even miss not having electricity.
I had my first taste of snowcream during this time. This is a mixture of snow, sugar and vanilla as I recall. We just scooped up a pan full of snow from an undisturbed spot. I don't think it would be wise to even attempt this today, because of the acid rain and other pollutants captured by the snow as it falls from the sky. It is sad that our children will never be able to experience this simple treat. This time ended all too soon for me when the lines were fixed. I would have enjoyed living like this for a long time.
Wallins Creek winters brought many other simple pleasures, like breaking off a hanging icicle to suck on like a lollypop. You couldn't do this for very long without gloves because your hands would get too cold. Other dangers included being careful not to get your tongue stuck to anything that was metal. I never got permanently stuck, but experienced it momentarily. This happened when I just had to try to see what it was like.
I remember the best snowball fight I ever had. It was one night as we were leaving the Baptist Church after services. It was snowing very hard. The flakes were very large and wet. It was one of those rare perfect snow conditions ideal for making a snowball. When we scooped it up in our hands, we could mold the snow into perfect snowballs. Sometimes the snow would be dry and powdery, but not this night. The conditions were perfect. I don't remember who threw the first snowball, but it set off a running battle. It was not a team sport. It was every boy for himself. Girls were not involved other than trying to stay out of the line of fire. It wasn't gentlemanly to intentionally hit a girl anyway. Usually what started a good snowball battle in the first place was showing off our snowball-throwing prowess to impress the girls.
Sarah's Café was also a good base to hang out in cold weather. We could use it as a place to get warm or to figure out our next activity. It was also a time to play inside games like cards or chess. I am thankful to Sarah for not tossing me out. I'm sure that she knew that I usually didn't have any money to spend. I was just taking up space. But I'm sure that there were others in the same position. Actually, most of us we were in the same condition. I guess we were poor, but proud. I don't think we thought about it that much. There were a lot of people in town that were very generous to me. I will never forget them. I won't embarrass them by naming them. They were the ones who shared pocket change to buy me a soda, or included me in their activities.
Wintertime in Wallins Creek usually put a damper on all the other outside activities. There was little roaming around. Bike riding was out. No loafing on the street. One thing we could always count on was that Spring and Summer were always just around the corner.
