Confederate Mail Delivery

Driving home from daily Mass last Thursday, we followed the mail carrier up our road. Since it was slick and snowy, and the roadway was necessarily narrower, I didn't pass her truck. Passing on these narrow, overgrown, windy county roads is a bad idea even in the best of weather. So we idled along  behind the white 4X4 Ford F-250 with a rear window tinted like a Confederate Battle Flag. During this creeping drive, I could not help but to shake my head and inwardly chuckle at the irony of a United States Postal Service worker delivering mail from a vehicle emblazoned with the Confederate Flag.

Now to some this flag (also known as the "Southern Cross," the "Rebel Flag," the "Stars and Bars," and the "Navy Jack") is a simple show of pride. To them it's about southern heritage. It's about rooting for the underdog and going against the current. Perhaps to the politically minded it's even about the Jeffersonian ideals of state sovereignty. But to others (myself included, since I grew up in the upper midwest) the Confederate Battle Standard is, despite about 150 years having passed since the end of the Civil War and about 50 years having passed since the "textbook" end of African American Civil Rights Movement, a complicated and incendiary symbol of slavery, a bloody civil war, segregation, and "white supremacy". 

Perhaps the latter view is due in part to the fact that the Confederate Battle Flag has been appropriated by the Ku Klux Klan and other "extremist" groups. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, more than 500 of these groups use the Southern Cross as one of their symbols! I suppose no matter what the naivety or intent of the person who displays this standard, once certain meanings are attached to the flag they endure in the minds of some.

Generally, rural mail carriers are required to use their own vehicles for mail delivery. They receive an equipment allowance in addition to regular pay since they're providing their own transportation. Their conveyance just needs to be insured, dependable, and in good working condition and not bear any commercial advertisements. But they are still entitled to their "free speech"! So there's absolutely nothing wrong with what I saw. I just find it incongruous and comical that the vehicle is unmarked by anything that would make it noticeably a USPS delivery vehicle, but it's entire rear window is covered with a controversial flag for a region of the US that tried to secede. It's like I'm getting mail from an agency of the Confederate States of America rather than the United States of America.

Shelter From the Storm

In a world of steel-eyed death, and men who are fighting to be warm….

Try imagining a place where it’s always safe and warm

“Come in,” she said, “I’ll give you shelter from the storm."

Nah, I'm not on a Bobby D. kick. The title of this post actually refers to having temporarily taken in our neighbor's horses. With snow on the ground last Saturday, and a blizzard predicted for the next two days- lots of snow followed by dangerously low temperatures/wind chills and strong winds/blowing snow, we offered to shelter our neighbors' horses in our barn. We do have unused horse stalls at the moment, after all.

You see, they don't have running water near their horses, and had been carting water to them in 5 gallon buckets from their place across the road. Even in cool weather, a horse drinks 10 to 12 gallons a day! And they have 3 horses. 

My husband and oldest boy frantically prepared the barn last Saturday. Then our neighbors walked the horses from the 3 sided run-in shelter at the back of their property. They crossed the road, walked them through the lot their house sits on, and then they made the trek past our hay barn, across the dam, and across the upper hay field to the barn. 

While we readied for the storm and probable power outage by toting wood, stocking up on water and food, etc., the horses seemed to settle in just fine.

They were friendly when we went in to tend the goats,

although our neighbor's newest horse, a recent addition, was a bit nervous at first.

Early the next morning, the snow set in. It was beautiful, heavy snow. The flakes stuck together in crystalline clumps. They stuck to everything and piled up quickly. 

My husband took most of the kids and shoveled out the church in town that morning (by hand!) Then he came home mid-day and got on the plow. He wanted to be sure that there wouldn't be more on the ground than our small tractor could get through by the time it was all over.

Everything was soon frosted with snow. It piled on branches 4 inches deep. They cracked and fell, littering the yard and making my plowing husband nervous. But it really was beautiful. 

After 10 to 12 inches fell, the snow tapered off the next day and the temperature dropped as the wind picked up. Snow blew in swirls and more branches fell. Two large limbs fell across our driveway (along with the myriad of sticks.) 

My husband worked from home that day. Treacherous road conditions, coupled with subfreezing temperatures and power outages led to a county-wide state of disaster emergency declaration that morning. Travel was restricted to emergency personnel only. Midday, he was itching to take a break from work and plow the drive again, but I begged him not to, for fear of the extreme wind chill. Luckily, our neighbor, in repayment for taking in his family's horses, drove over in his off-road vehicle (with a cab to keep him out of the wind) and did another round of plowing. Yay! He even cleared the largest limbs from the long driveway.

When the wind stopped, snow had drifted considerably, but it was still piled up on everything quite deeply. It covered most of the fallen branches.

The wind had blown much of the snow off of the trees, but plenty still remained. It was sunny and stunning, but deadly cold. Our neighbor didn't think that she would have been able to make it back to their horses if they had not been relocated. With the low temps., the water may have frozen by the time they got it over there even if she had! She was very grateful, and we were glad to put our horse facilities to good use. 

When the temperatures crept back up Wednesday afternoon, the children were able to get out for snow play and saw the horses up close for the first time. The horses had been let out too.

A new weather system moved in Friday. We've gotten well over 2 inches of rain and warmer temperatures since then, and flooding is now the problem. The county roads were very treacherous today due to the rutting, packed ice, and 4 inches of slush and standing water topping it all.

Despite the rain, our hay field is still white with snow. Even on the un-mowed part, no grasses are sticking through. But we can see gravel peeking through most of our driveway now. And tomorrow afternoon the horses will go to their usual home. I think my husband will really miss them.