One of my favorite parts about living in Arkansas was the big snow that we got every winter. Every time that it snowed, I couldn’t wait to get outside and have some fun. In true “country girl” fashion, we would get out the four-wheelers and sleds to enjoy our winter wonderland.
Things are a little different down here in Texas, however. I don’t really get to see any big snow storms here in the Hill Country. Every time I am home in Arkansas for Christmas I pray for snow while I am in. I can’t wait to sip hot chocolate while I watch the first snow fall of the season (and for me, the only snow fall of the season).
This Christmas was my lucky year. The weather was calling for a big winter snow on Christmas day. I sat in the living room all day watching the window for the first snowflake. The snow was supposed to start around 3:00 pm. By 3:30 pm I was getting very impatient. Then, there it was. My mom was standing at the door and spotted the first snow flake. The whole family jumped up and ran to the window (you’d think we had never seen snow before). As the snow began to fall, so did the sleet. We were getting a pretty big winter storm. The snow and sleet continued all night and well into the next morning.
Over night, we had gotten a total of 5 inches of snow. Central Arkansas got hit pretty hard. There were lots of fallen trees and power outages from all of the sleet that we got. For this reason, my drive back to Texas was postponed. We spent all of Wednesday enjoying the snow, drinking hot chocolate, and watching our favorite Christmas movie Elf!
By Thursday morning I was hoping that the roads would be clear enough for me to make my 13 hour journey back to Texas. At 6:30 am I started my car so that all the ice on my windows would melt before I took off. When I loaded my car up at 7:15 am, I still couldn’t get my trunk open because of the ice. So I loaded everything into my back seat and hit the road.
The little county roads between Melbourne and Little Rock Arkansas were pretty scary. There was still lots of ice on the roads with one small path for cars to follow, but the scariest part of my drive was when I hit Little Rock. The sides of the road looked like a grave yard. There were cars off in the ditch left and right, bumpers and other car parts laying on the side of the road, and trees that had once fallen on the road pushed off to the side. Traffic crept along. After about an hour, I finally made it to the other side of Little Rock and the roads cleared up. There was still snow and ice on the shoulder, but both lanes of the interstate were clear.
I ended up making it home in great time, despite my slow down at the beginning of the trip. Man, a white Christmas sure was nice, but it made for a rough drive home.
Love from “The Heart”
<3 Meghan
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