Thursday, March 13, 2008
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Thursday, March 13, 2008 |
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Community | Obits | Editorial & Columnists | Society | Sports | Education | Classified Ads | Calendar of Events | Features | Newsbriefs | Legals | Archives | Subscriptions | Photo Gallery |
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Fielder’s Choice Slow ride The weather forecast seemed as definite as ever Friday – snow. But that didn’t stop Andy and me from making a short trip. We were looking forward to going to Southaven for the 2008 Gulf South Conference Basketball Tournaments. “What do you think?” I asked my wife Pam several times Friday morning. She’s the ultimate weather watcher. I usually just roll with the flow. My main reason for attending was to watch the University of North Alabama men’s team, the top seed from the Gulf South’s Eastern Division. They weren’t scheduled to play until 5:30 p.m. We drove to DeSoto County with no problems. It start raining and spitting a bit of snow as we reached the Southaven City Limits. We watched Harding versus Arkansas Tech at 12:30 p.m. and then took a break as the Ouachita Baptist-Valdosta State game started. The snow was streaming outside. It was beautiful. Roads were still fine as we drove back to the DeSoto Civic Center. We saw the second half of Ouachita-Valdosta and then cheered for UNA as the Lions knocked off Arkansas-Monticello to reach Saturday’s semi-finals. We were not exactly sure what awaited us outside. It was about 7:30 p.m. It had gotten considerably worse in the past two and a half hours and it was still snowing hard. Traffic was slow on Church Road. We saw one accident. As we drove on, we could not tell whether we were in the inside lane, the outside lane or any lane at all. I had not driven in this much snow since I had my four-wheel drive Jeep many years ago. I was wishing I had driven Emma’s four-wheel drive Blazer to Southaven. The only problem we had came on the ramp to Highway 78 at Olive Branch. Near the top of the ramp, the Sport Trac started spinning sideways. I backed up and tried to straighten up a few times. It didn’t work. Cars were coming up behind us. They couldn’t get by. I backed up a bit more and this time “punched it” a bit more, too. We spun, this time headed in the right direction, and made it onto Highway 78. I had become a little nervous. I think Andy was more nervous. He’d probably never seen this much snow and ice. There was quite a bit of traffic but all slow moving. We were traveling about 15 mph. There were a few brave souls who went flying by in the left lane. One of those was a wrecker. We saw some stranded motorists. The roads were slick. The bridges were much worse. Thank goodness for Marshall County. When we reached our home county, Highway 78 improved greatly. Traffic was moving along at about 55 mph – no more problems. We awoke Saturday morning to a pretty blanket of the white stuff. I went out and took some photos for the newspaper, and then we enjoyed family time in the snow. We did some sledding on a small hill at our house. Then we drove to the bigger hills at Spring Hollow Park and Hill Crest Cemetery. Before retiring by the fire and getting warm again, we built a snowman in the front yard. There were a few snowball fights in between, too. Andy and I went back to the Gulf South Conference Basketbal Tournament Saturday for the men’s semi-final games. UNA lost the nightcap to Christian Brothers. We did not attend the championship games on Sunday. Christian Brothers won the men’s crown over Harding. The Delta State Lady Statesmen took the women’s championship. DSU, my wife’s alma mater, is unbeaten and will host an NCAA Division II regional this weekend on campus in Cleveland. And by the way, temperatures should reach the upper 60s this week – more like a spring break. |
        
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