Columnists, EDITORIAL -- FEATURE SPOT, J.R. Tidwell, Opinion
 By  J.R. Tidwell Published 
6:00 am Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Raindrops keep falling on my head

I found myself in Birmingham last Friday evening. I was at the BJCC covering Red Bay’s basketball game.

When I was done there I had a big decision to make; I could drive back to Russellville or go to my mom’s house in Jasper.

The sky over Birmingham betrayed little of the storms that would soon hit the state, so I decided that I might try to head back to Franklin County.

I changed my mind by the time I got to my car.

I had brought some overnight stuff just in case I needed to stay somewhere other than my apartment, so heading to my mom’s house wouldn’t be a big deal.

It was 30 miles closer, anyway.

By the time I made it into Walker County I could see some really awesome lightning striking ground well north of my location of I-22.

It barely rained on me during the hour-long trip, and the road was even mostly dry as I headed north.

I made it to Jasper without a hitch, and my mom’s house was just a few more miles away. The lightning was as present as it had been miles down the road, but it still wasn’t over my head.

The wind started to pick up as I walked up the steps at the place where I was raised.

My stepdad had the weather on the TV, and I could see for the first time since I left Russellville earlier that Friday morning hat the weather map looked like.

The word I would use to describe it would be bad. Franklin County, and more specifically Russellville, seemed to be in the worst part of the storm north of Walker County.

If I had tried to drive all the way back that night, I would have been in for some foul weather up Highway 43.

I was immediately glad that I went to Jasper instead of up here.

Incidentally the weather struck a few hours after my arrival at my mom’s, but I was so tired that I fell asleep and missed the worst of it.

I didn’t know that we’d had any bad weather at all.

Also on Franklin County Times
Walk Thru Bethlehem captures Christmas story
Main, News, Russellville, ...
María Camp maria.camp@franklincountytimes.com 
December 10, 2025
RUSSELLVILLE — Russellville First Baptist Church’s annual Walk Thru Bethlehem over the weekend transformed two downtown blocks into a first-century se...
Use of force: ‘It’s a split-second decision’
Main, News, Russellville, ...
By Kevin Taylor For the Franklin County Times 
December 10, 2025
RUSSELLVILLE –Before each shift at the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, supervisors will always talk about officer safety. They talk about incidents ...
Tree lighting ceremony draws crowd in Red Bay
News, Red Bay
María Camp maria.camp@franklincountytimes.com 
December 10, 2025
RED BAY — Members of the community gathered downtown Nov. 30 for the annual tree lighting ceremony, which brought students, local organizers and famil...
Rideshare drivers should be able to understand English
Columnists, Opinion
December 10, 2025
When I was in college, if we needed a ride, we would either call a friend or walk home. These days, however, millions of Americans rely on rideshare s...
‘Roxy’s Christmas Spectacular’ gets ready to take stage
Columnists, News, Opinion
HERE AND NOW
December 10, 2025
Susie Hovater Malone Columnist The Roxy’s Christmas Spectacular does more than bring holiday joy to the stage each December. It unites our community, ...
Golden Tigers split contests with Belgreen
High School Sports, Russellville Golden Tigers, Sports
Brannon King For the FCT 
December 10, 2025
The Russellville Golden Tigers visited the Belgreen Bulldogs and each school picked up a win. Russellville’s girls defeated Belgreen by a final score ...
PC Lady Bobcats win 3 games
High School Sports, Phil Campbell Bobcats, Sports
Bart Moss For the FCT 
December 10, 2025
Phil Campbell picked up three wins this week beating Shoals Christian 49-34, Cherokee 55-21 and Lexington 52-41. In the Shoals Christian win Phil Camp...
Romero makes triumphant return to stage
News, Phil Campbell
Chelsea Retherford For the FCT 
December 10, 2025
PHIL CAMPBELL — When Jonathon Romero first walked out as Sweeney Todd during the show’s opening weekend, it marked a triumphant return to the stage af...

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *