Spring is just around the corner
By Staff
Bob Stickley
Guest Columnist
As the seasons change from winter to spring, so do our feelings.
I’m ready for spring, are you?
Sometimes we, as God’s children, sit around and gripe about the weather. But it won’t change because God is in control and when he says warm up, it will.
This has been the coldest weather months since I moved here 33 years ago when I moved out of the snow country to where I thought it would be much warmer.
Winter isn’t quite over just yet.
If you look back 25 years ago to Thursday, Feb. 6, 1985, some of you will remember the terrible ice storm we had. We had ice and sleet first then heavy snow.
For several days after that Thursday, many people were without power as the ice dropped power lines and trees. Many of the trees cracked from the weight of the ice and fell onto area roadways.
U.S. 43 from the top of Spruce Pine Mountain all the way to Hackleburg was impossible to pass because of downed trees. Many other roads in the county were the same way.
Many areas suffered heavy damage to buildings; particularly chicken farms that had houses collapse killing thousands of chickens.
In Russellville, Franklin Homes suffered quite a bit of damage.
In fact, the place where I worked at the time suffered heavy damage to our large warehouse and the walls in our showroom facing Woodward Avenue in Muscle Shoals began to crack and we were fearful we would lose the showroom also.
The state troopers had Spruce Pine Mountain blocked so I was unable to go to Muscle Shoals until the following Wednesday morning. You could only go down the mountain in a front-wheel or four-wheel drive vehicle.
God was watching over northwest Alabama those terrible days.
The amazing thing about the South is that everybody works for each other, particularly the elderly were looked after and most of their needs were met. Food, water and kerosene heaters were brought in where needed.
No matter how much we gripe about the changes of seasons, God is still in control as he created them. We can sit and fuss all we want but what does it gain us, nothing.
Now, we are soon to enter the most beautiful season God created – Spring.
And the time to start doing our Spring-cleaning and fertilizing our lawns, raking up the old ugly piles of dead leaves left on our lawns thanks to the winter winds.
Our hedges and crepe myrtles that the city went to great expense to provide for us need to be trimmed.
Lots of folks still gripe and fuss about that landscaping, but in a few months all those crepe myrtles and azalea bushes will really show their beauty following two years of growth.
We need to be proud of our city and show it to passersby. How can we expect anyone looking for a place to bring a business to choose us if everything looks like a landfill around our highways?
I don’t understand why more efforts can’t be shown about the tall grass in the medians. Sometimes the grass is so tall you can’t even see oncoming traffic if you’re trying to make a turn. Where are the lawn crews during that time?
Soon the pretty daffodils will begin to shine out so pretty in people’s yards and one home just north of Five Star Pizza has a gorgeous wall of pink vetch and many other flowers and across the road, Karl Pilate’s wife, Jimmie, has her yard ready to shine with beautiful flowers.
In June you will see a beauty of day lilies and daffodils around Mary Scott’s home at 202 Plum Street. She is 81 years old and still finds time to work her flowers. Wouldn’t you say that God blesses these folks?
Don’t forget your camera as you take a tour of Russellville. You can get some wonderful pictures.
Folks, let’s not gripe about all the bad things but praise God for the wonderful country he gave to us to live in and the most beautiful sights can be found in the United States of America and many other countries as well.
What a wonderful God we serve, who created it all.
