Sunday Walk: Part 3- White Out

Today the high was 32, which is COLD for a Southerner, for a Northerner, 32 in January may be considered a heat wave, adorned with flip-flops and tank tops.

You see, in the Deep South, folks just don’t have proper attire for very cold weather. Evident from the progress of the deck photos, shorts can be worn until December. Why buy heavy coats when you may wear them once a year or once every 5 years? As a child, plastic bags placed over our Keds, served as water-resistant foot wear for playing in the snow. Why buy anything else? By the time it would snow again, your foot would be 5 sizes larger. Once on a business trip to Calgary in February, I was told to make sure to bring my parka. Parka?!? The only thing I know about a parka is what I’ve seen in the L.L.Bean catalogue. Actually, it may be the only place to find a parka, within 50 miles.

Snow, in the Deep South, is a welcome rarity. The excitement is seen in blogs such as 1870 House, 1928 Bungalow, Westview Bungalow, Plum Tree Studio, and us. School kids are up early listening to the news to find out if school is canceled. Just a little flurry causes a mad rush to market to buy milk and bread. Folks are skidding around on the slippery roads, making sure they are not without milk and bread for the two days the snow is on the ground. Why Milk and Bread? Who knows, but they were out at Publix yesterday.

Small southern towns don’t have things like snow plows and salt trucks. Wait, Chris and I did see a salt/sand truck yesterday. It appeared to be a 1961 Chevy. Chris commented, “They’ve been waiting for years to drive that thing, lucky it cranked.” Snow chains in the South are like grits in the North, not available. As a child, I remember an ice storm, where we were without electricity, drinkable water, and phone for a week. We were stuck in the house, boiling soup on a kerosene heater. Snow is so rare; each one is a memory burned on your permanent hard drive.

Back to the Post at hand. …

Just a couple shots of houses today for the Sunday Walk in the Hood series, because it is cold, snow is still on the ground, and most southerners can’t tolerate any temperature below freezing.

Here are the pics. They are a White Out!!!



Built in the early 30's as a "Honeymoon Cottage". by F.E. Callaway.



A town historian thinks the owner's of the house to the right built our house for their daughter. But, that is not confirmed.

See why we have to paint our house another color besides white, even if it white appears to be the only color ThirteenEleven has ever been painted.