17 May 2013

A Tale of Woe & a Forecast of Snow

ProudHillbilly commented on the previous post, "It makes you wonder if stupid is increasing or it's just that we hear about it easier."

I suspect we hear about more things now, due to the voracious appetite of the 24-hour news cycle. But stupidity, like poor people, has always been with us. Here's a true story from way back in my callow youth...

I lived in a very small town, surrounded by farm country. Circa 1970, a couple of high school seniors decided that it would be fun to steal another guy's hog. Keep in mind that nearly half of my class wore FFA jackets - yes, that kind of town ... the kind where 8 guys would split a "borrowed" six-pack and try to act drunk.

They waited until dark, drove their truck to the farm in question, and were herding said hog into the back of the pickup. The farmer heard the ruckus (hogs are noisy when they're disturbed; you can trust me on this) and called the Sheriff.

Deputies responded, and charged the 17-year-old seniors with rustling.

You see, back in those days (may still be that way, but the topic hasn't come up - go figure), it was a misdemeanor to steal livestock during daylight hours ... but a felony after dark.

These two budding Einsteins gave the high school principal's name as their contact, so he got up in the middle of the night and took them to their respective parents. I still don't know why he didn't just tell the Sheriff he wasn't responsible, and go back to sleep.

* * * * *

AccuHunch has issued a Winter Weather Advisory for much of this area, calling for a rain/snow mix to change to all snow by 7 pm, with 2" to 6" of wet snow falling overnight through tomorrow morning. This forecast was greeted with groans, as the 15th was the last day we could legally have studded snow tires, here. A few folks have snow tires without studs, but not many.

Why? Because we got a lot of snow, and it packs down to ... well, think "Zamboni + hockey rink = Anchorage streets" slick. Not ice, exactly, but compressed snow that's well-glazed by traffic. Might as well be ice.

But we've had temps in the 40s & 50s for several weeks, and the roads have been snow-free for the last three weeks ... until today.

AccuHunch also tells us that this will set a new record: the longest stretch from first snow to final snow of a single season since they began keeping records in 1917.

We could do without this dubious distinction.

8 comments:

Stephen said...

Okay, I'll bite. How long were you in jail? BTW, I too wore an FFA blue jacket.

Well Seasoned Fool said...

#1 Stupid excuse. "It seemed like a good idea, at the time".

Rev. Paul said...

Stephen, it wasn't me - I was a sophomore that year (and not in FFA).

WSF, you nailed it.

threecollie said...

I am so sorry...about the weather that is, not the pig story. Felony rustling huh? That is impressive.

Rev. Paul said...

threecollie, I figured you'd get a kick out of that. :)

Cathy said...

OK. But what happened to that sophomore?

And soooo sorry about that snow. If it helps . . .well . . . it's snowing petals here :)

Rev. Paul said...

Cathy, that made me laugh. :) Thanks - your petals give us something to look forward to.

Cathy said...

I'll leave you with these lines from Robert Frost's "The Oven Bird" . . . my favorite Frost imagery:

He says the early petal fall is past
When pear and cherry bloom went down in showers
On sunny days a moment overcast;