291. Doctor My Eyes, the Snow is so Bright

The picture at right, taken earlier yesterday, is of headstones in Zachary National National Cemetery on Brownsboro Road.



I should begin this entry with my decision last night, whilst dining with a friend at Carly Rae's at 1st and Oak streets not to do something I really wanted to do, not doing it because I am apparently getting old and was afraid "how the roads would be" later on when the event ended. This morning I regret being a scaredy-cat.

It has been a long time since Louisville has seen a multi-day - multi-inch snowfall. A few hours ago, using a Ken Herndon for Council Magnet/Ruler, I attempted to measure the depth of the snow which has so far fallen, now nearing its fourteenth hour. But the magnet is only six inches long and the snow, at least here along the Left Bank of the Ohio River near Milepost 606, was more like 7 and 1/2. And it continues to fall and is scheduled to do so throughout the day, with forecasters predicting another 2 or 3 inches, depending upon how much coffee they've already had this morning.

I walked around my block about 6:15 am, coursing through the white stuff along S. Campbell, E. Madison, S. Shelby, and E. Muhammad Ali. Only Ali had been plowed. Of course, that block of Shelby is a residential pedestrian mall, so it doesn't count. Later on, not too long ago, I drove out and about downtown Louisville, where only Broadway, Ali, and Jefferson appear to be adequately cleared. But, they won't remain so as the snow is falling faster than the plowers can clear the streets. And since we now plow far more streets than in the past (in the past being before Merger) with the same amount of equipment, it takes longer, or in some cases, some things just don't get done like they used to, despite the fact that those receiving less services still pay two property tax bills while those receiving more services still only pay one. But, I digress.

Looking at the bright-white sights and sites in the city can be hard on the eyes. But it is all rather enchanting. There is nothing for me that brings back childhood memories any more than snowfall. In the neighborhood where I grew up, in southern Jefferson County off South Park Road between Fairdale and Okolona, there were probably 30 kids between the ages of 6 and 16 in the late 60s and 70s. Boys and girls, with last names like Priddy and Payton, Breed and Bowen, Jansing, Gutermuth, Kesler, Shumate, Vining, Woehrle, Mills, and me and my brother adding Noble. On snow days, we would sled on the very small hill right in front of my house, a hill that is otherwise ignored as a bump in the road until snow or ice make a grand mountain out of it. For big snows, we would walked down South Park toward the road that led up to the old Preston Street Road Water Company Tower, up on South Park Hill, the highest point in Jefferson County, rising to 902 feet, which is some 450 feet higher than the elevation of the Court House downtown on Jefferson Street. From the point at the top of the hill, you had three of four choices of which way to sled back down. Of course, all but one of those (the one being the way you came) led to a much longer walk back home. At the time, the Jefferson Freeway (later renamed the Snyder Freeway) wasn't there. One path led down into the property of the Trinity Pentecostal Tabernacle. Another would go over toward Granger Road in Coral Ridge. The best path led down toward Silver Lake at the South Park Country Club. This was the path we often took. After sledding back down, we'd walk back up the other South Park Road, the one that runs along side of the L&N Railroad and make a stop at the little market where the two South Parks split. This shorter road is now a dead end and has been renamed South Park Court. At the market, more often than not, we'd "borrow" the phone and call my grandmother, the one woman who didn't mind driving in the snow and had a big enough car to haul all of us kids back around South Park Hill and home to hot chocolate and other goodies. Such a sled ride took about three hours from beginning to end and was (I guess) well worth it as we did it every chance we could. It seems like there were more chances back then than there are now.

Back then, it would have never occurred to me not to do something simply because of the snow. Last night, I did not do something simply because of the snow. My very favorite singer was in Louisville for a concert. I had planned to go for weeks. Jackson Browne, who I've heard before in concert, when both he and I were much younger, has been my favorite singer since 9th or 10th grade. He played in Louisville last night and I didn't go. Damn. All because of a little snow.