We were living in west Knoxville the year the city recorded the coldest temperature in the lower 48. That was January 21/22, 1985. It had snowed on Sunday morning—hard. So hard that church was cancelled. My husband, being the adventurous soul that he was, went out and checked on some of our church’s shut-ins. He barely made it back home and he swears it was because he was driving an old VW Beetle. I was just glad when he was safely home.
We were all snug and warm inside the house we were renting when we realized one of our kittens was outside. I have no clue how that happened, but I bundled up and headed out to look for it. By then it was pretty close to that 24 below zero that was recorded early Monday morning. I realized I was getting too darned old to be on my hands and knees in the snow calling for an errant kitten under the house. I found her (she had stayed nice and warm next to the duct work) and I finally thawed out when we got back in.
The aftermath of this storm was that there were several sunny (but cold) days and snow on the ground. School was cancelled and the kids clamored to go out and play. So we went out to the huge sloping front yard with cardboard boxes and slid down the hill. Our only concern was making sure not to slide out on Westland Drive, a busy road. We needn’t have worried, the cardboard sleds were fun, but not very sturdy. They fell apart long before we reached the bottom of the hill.
After that, Tommy and Danielle wanted to build snowmen. So we built one and then someone had the great idea of building a ‘snow kitty.’ What fun that was!
Since we had the huge front yard, there was still plenty of snow. And it had become just right for packing. We rolled what seemed a huge ball for the front end of the kitty, another one for the back end. This became a very big snow cat. I struggled to get the ball that was to become the head up on the front snowball. The kitty ended up being large enough for the kids to sit on and ride.
It took a good deal of the day to put it together. We sculpted the face and ears; used broom straw for the whiskers and even had a rope for reins. I don’t think I have ever spent so much time on a snowman before or since. The kids had so much fun and that kitty lasted most of the week before more temperate weather drifted in. I remember the fun of that week much more than the dangerous temperatures.
Susan Kite is a member of the Author’s Guild of Tennessee and has published five young adult novels in several genres. Check them out on Amazon or at Bookscape.net.