How does everyone react where you live, when the weatherman/woman says the forecast is calling for snow? Here in central Arkansas it’s like an Apocalypse is coming. Everyone rushes out to the store to clear the shelves of bread and milk.

This was taken today at Walmart here in Bryant, Arkansas. This is suppose to be the bread aisle, but as you can see, the bread has been wiped out.

A few days ago, our very own weatherman said it was supposed to snow today – it didn’t. Though that didn’t stop everyone from clearing the shelves at the local grocery store. I just happened to go to the store myself, but it was for a few items my grandmother needed for a recipe. I also ran out of grape jelly and my daughter was almost out of her cereal. I usually don’t pay much attention to the forecast, unless it calls for several inches of snow and/ or that it’s going to snow for a few days straight. So when I got to the store this morning I found it crowded on the grocery side of the store and most of the shelves were either empty or looking a little bare.

Last year, around Christmas, we actually received a lot of snow, as well as ice. The trees became top heavy and limbs began snapping, falling on power-lines and across roadways. Many were without power for days, some without power for weeks. My family and I were actually stuck in our house as our giant Magnolia tree in our front yard split. One giant limb fell across the driveway, then another fell across the yard and on part of the wheelchair ramp (was built for my grandfather years ago), blocking us in completely. There was also a limb that fell against the house, pulling one of the wires out of the wall, knocking our electric out. We had trouble getting the power company to come out here to look at it, as they wanted us to have an electrician check it first.

I called an electrician and was put on a long waiting list. Some electrician’s were without electricity themselves, so those they did have electricity, found themselves busy busy. After a few days someone showed up and said we were good to go. Now the wait for the power company to come turn the power back on. That in turn took a few more days. All the while the house was almost as cold inside, as it was outside. We all bundled up under a huge pile of blankets in the living room, sealing off the rest of the house. After about eight days we finally got our power turned on. It was like this across most of the state.

The weatherman did call for several inches of snow and some ice. I had stocked up on food, but what I didn’t expect was the power to go out. Everything here is electric. Now we are better prepared; I have a little camping stove, bottled water, lanterns, and batteries.

Our giant magnolia tree