Stranded in Hazard: Wow, look at the snow

We got about 4 ½ inches of snow yesterday. It took Joe, my brother, and me almost 3 hours to get home from the Coal Fields, whichI think is a reclaimed strip mine turned industrial area. Looking out my window now, I can see our little hollow/driveway is cleared, thanks to some of my neighbors and another neighbor just drove past on his way to work. We aren't snowed-in but it does remind me of a couple times when I have been snowed-in here. There have been many other times, but these are the two that come back to me now.

I was living in Louisville and had dropped out of college—but had yet to go back. I was young; I had to be around 21-years-old because my Dad was still alive. I worked at Frisch’s in the drive-thru and I’d had a couple of days off so decided to visit home. It may have been Christmas, because I seem to remember my brothers being there too. I don’t remember any specifics about the trip except for calling in to work on the day I was supposed to return to let him know I was snowed in and wouldn’t be able to work that night. I spoke to Ted, the Manager in Training. He was just this side of livid, to say the least. It was obvious that Ted thought I was just trying to get out of work (um Ted, it would have been so much easier to play sick.) He took the number to our house and called me back to make sure I really was snowed-in—in the middle of Eastern KY and wouldn’t make it back for the evening shift. Then next morning, we got my car—a 1979 AMC Spirit, I loved that car—unburied and I drove back to Louisville.

The other time it was just me and Mom. And that’s fine; Mom and I mostly get along. We sat on the couch and watched lots of TV…until the power went out. We heated with coal then, so we had plenty of heat as long as I kept the coal bin full and the ashes empty. Coal is heavy. Ashes are heavier. We were also able to cook on the coal stove, so we didn’t starve. I wasn’t a knitter yet so we had to do something to keep ourselves sane. I have a hard time reading around my Mom, she keeps talking to me and I get frustrated. So I knew we had to do something together. We had lots of board games, and I love board games, except they were all multiplayer like Trivial Pursuit and Monopoly. We also had puzzles. I like puzzles, maybe a little bit too much. I get a little bit OCD about them. First we separate the edges from the inside pieces. Then we build the frame (put the edge pieces together) and work our way in. We must have put together at least 3 1000 piece puzzles during those 5 days. Working a puzzle by candle light is near to impossible. And after the power came back on? We finished the last puzzle while watching TV.