January 1 or 2, 1964 |
This picture isn't from yesterday--it's from January 1, 1964, in Lauderdale County, right after a huge snowstorm dropped buckets of frozen stuff on the South. I'm one of those two children trudging through the aftermath. None of us had proper gloves, shoes, outerwear, and it's a million wonders we didn't get frostbite!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Year%27s_Eve_1963_snowstorm
Years later, on March 23, 1968, there was another freakish event, and Mother snapped a shot of me in (again) inappropriate garb, sporting a VERY short hairdo, and packing a snowball, probably intended for my brother.
March 23, 1968 |
We are never prepared for snow and ice here in Mississippi! So I sit at home today, trying to keep warm and waiting for the roads to melt off. --Which may not happen, in 23-degree weather, sunshine notwithstanding.
Today I'd like to think of warmer days in other times. So let me just post a few pictures of that:
Bessie Alawine Smith with Beth, Nancy, Janice, Sheila, Jack and some other unknown kid, I'm guessing about 1957 or so |
I am in the plaid dress at the front (as usual, mugging for the camera); I THINK Beth Pilgrim Mullins is at the far right; Nancy Pilgrim Giles is right beside Bessie, her grandmother; Beth and Nancy's sister Janice is in my Aunt Bessie's lap; my brother Jack is beside me. I have no idea who the other little boy might be. And the original photo was just as fuzzy as this cleaned-up, photoshopped one, so I apologize in advance; I did what I could with it.
But take a look at all of us!
We're in short sleeves! Some of us are BAREFOOT! Makes me want to cry today. Or, as Jimmy Buffett would say, "I want to go where it's WARM."
I've said from the onset of this blog that part of my goal is to post photos others may not have seen, or not for a while. Here's one of my father Bob holding his youngest sister Omera.
Bob Alawine and Omera Alawine Dallas, about 1924 |
He doesn't appear to be all that happy about the babysitting job, but you can't tell--maybe he had to squint in the sun. Ouch...another warm day, or warm-ish; Aunt Omera does appear to have a cap on. She was born in 1924, so Daddy would've been about twelve here.
Another picture I have shows my mother around the age of sixteen, wearing a hat. I've been told she was quite vain about that hat.
Cecile Tolbert Alawine, about 1933 |
Since she was born in 1916, this would've been around 1932 or '33, possibly. She's got long sleeves, too, but look: the trees are leafed out. Must've been spring. I ache with longing, right now...
I end this cold post--where I'm hunched over the table, with the big heat unit running full blast AND a small space heater at my feet, besides--with just a picture of a lovely aunt of mine on another sunny fall afternoon in 1978: Aunt Sylvia.
Sylvia Alawine Scarborough, 1978 |
OK...stay warm, cousins! I'm addicted to scanning the Internet today, in particular the weather forecast of several days from now, which makes 64 degrees look like a heat spell...
Jack and Sheila, tricycles, doll "Catch up! Stop looking at the camera!" |
How true that we never had proper winter clothing for those rare snowy days. We always sported those handy-dandy Smiths Sunbeam bread bags on our feet when we went out in the snow. We were still in Prichard for the snows of '64 and '68' but I do remember the great ice storm in the late '70s. We made our way over to downtown Rio to hang out with the cousins and slide down King hill. I'm sure Mama and Daddy were inside playing cards with Ronnie and Ginger, smoking cigarettes and drinking countless cups of coffee.
ReplyDeleteYes! I remember the bread wrappers! They SOMETIMES kept out the water from the melting snowballs, but they did NOTHING for the cold. And you KNOW an Alawine trait is that addiction to the coffee pot. Ronny would almost gag if I offered him instant at my house, which I WOULD do sometimes if I had no regular made right then. Me, I had my two BOWLS of coffee today, so I'm good. (Inside knowledge is required here: My daughter Karen brought me a GIANT of a mug from NOLA a few years ago. It's the size of at least two regular cups.) ...You asked about our ancestors' faith histories, and I did the post on the Mercers and the Wellses. I will eventually get around to a couple of other interesting little things.
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