Friday, January 28, 1977
Dear Janet,
Can you believe we’ve been out of school another whole week? I’ve lost count of the days we’ve been out, but I know it’s getting close to 30 now. I’m a little worried about all the work we’ve missed, especially since it’s our senior year. We took some pretty hard classes, and there’s no way we can make up all the work before graduation.
You do know they forgave a bunch of days, don’t you? Still, I think it will be up in June before we can graduate. Gosh, we’ll have to work so hard that we can’t possibly have any fun if we ever do get to go back! It feels like we might stay snowed in forever.
I miss seeing you. I don’t have anybody here to really talk to, and talking on the phone just isn’t the same– everybody in the house can hear what I’m saying not to mention the neighbors on our party line. Our phone vibrates every time theirs rings, so I’ll bet anything theirs does the same thing when ours rings.
We’ve gotten tired of playing card games. We’ve played enough War and Slapjack to last a lifetime, and our hands are sore from being hit so much. Rummy and Rook are a little better, and sometimes Paw plays with us, but they’re not much fun, either I can’t bear the thought of any more Thimble, Blind Man’s Bluff, or I Spy. I know some of those were games Maw and Paw played as kids, and that made them fun for a while, but that wore off a long time ago,too.. I know we’re driving them both, but especially Maw, a little crazier every day!
How many snowmen have you built? I think we’ve got one everywhere there’s a place flat enough to build one. The balls we roll are so big and heavy we can’t lift them on, so we just pack the snow on the first big ball and shape it into a man or woman as we go. I think that’s actually more fun than just using three snowballs. You should try it. We stick old clothes on as we go, and by the time we finish, they look pretty good. So do the dogs we build for their pets. You know that book we read about the glass menagerie? We have a snow menagerie!
I feel so sorry for the animals. Daddy had to dig the dogs’ houses out enough for them to come out to eat and use the bathroom. I think the cats are holed up in the barn, and Maw and Paw take scraps down for them to eat when they go to milk. The milk cows are in the barn, too just waiting for enough to melt to get around..
Thank goodness Mom still goes to work; it takes more than snow to keep her away from Sears! That means I can get to Hardee’s to work on Saturdays. I think that’s the only thing that’s kept me sane. We don’t have much business, but at least it’s a change of pace.
I never thought I would complain about snow days, and I don’t mean to now, but I never dreamed we would ever be out this long. I can hardly wait until enough of this snow melts so that we can go back!
I hope you’re hanging in there. The snow just isn’t fun anymore…
Your best friend,
Pam
*************************
Friday morning
Dear Sis,
I wonder if you all have as much snow as we do. It’s been terrible down here. The young’uns ain’t been to school since before the first of the year. They’ve just about drove me right out of my mind. In and out and in and out they go, and every time, they bring in enough snow and melting ice to cover the kitchen floor. If I’ve mopped it once, I’ve mopped it a hundred times. The young’uns help me with the cleaning, so I guess I shouldn’t talk about them too bad. And it’s nice to have them around. It won’t be long until they’re grown and gone.
You know, they play those card games and laugh and scream and yell so loud, it makes my nerves on edge. I don’t say anything’, though. It’s hard on them to be shut up for so long. They’re not quite as loud when they play Thimble or Blind Man’s Bluff, and at least I understand those games.
I don’t think I ever seen this much snow, not even when we were young. The chickens are stuck in the hen house. We feed them there, but it’s hard for us to get up there. We’re not so young anymore, you know. Dickie did shovel out a path to the barn, but it’s just about snowed over again. We’re having to leave the cows in there and feed them hay and chop in there…milk them in there, too. We take scraps down for the cats and squirt their mouths full of warm milk. They’ll probably come to expect that!
Sis, seems like all I do is cook and clean house and cook some more! Stuck in the house like this, it’s hard not to cook and Lord knows we have plenty down in the basement all canned up just waiting to be opened and fixed up. We’ve had tenderloin with grease gravy, chicken ‘n dumplin’s, plenty of beans and cornbread, and anything else I can think up with what I’ve got to work with.
I showed Pam how to make boiled candy the other day. You know it’s one of those things you have to get a knack for. I showed her how to watch for it to begin to slide off the spoon and then make a soft ball. That’s the hard part. It has to ball up at just the right softness, then you have to take it off the heat in a hurry. We let it harden up some, then cut it into pieces. It was all gone by the end of the day!
And, law how mercy, those young’uns! Some of the stuff they come up with to eat. You’ll never guess what I caught them with the other day. I made some jello to eat at dinner, and the next thing I knew they had a big bowl of it in the living room. They had popped up a skillet full of popcorn and were eating both at the same time. In went a handful of popcorn and then a big bite of jello. Beats all I ever seen.
I don’t mean to complain. It won’t be any time until we’ll be working our tails off in the garden and complaining about the heat. I hope you’re all well and that your winter’s not so hard. I’ll be waiting to hear from you. I miss you, Sis!
Love,
Rethie