By Doris Schroeder

Much as we like the state of Kansas, we have found there are many times we are not particularly fond of the weather. This, in itself, is no problem since in Kansas, all we have to do is wait until tomorrow. This winter, however, is the kind that sometimes tries our patience. I am beginning to understand why some people go south in the winter, much like the snowbirds do.

Isn’t it strange, however, that just before a large storm is predicted to hit, everyone makes it to the grocery store to load up on provisions. After all, we might have to stay home for two whole days. Actually, the cupboards where we store our food become a super market of its own, stocked with things “we might get hungry for!” Whatever happened to eating what we have?

Our state does let us enjoy all types of  weather. It used to be there was a season for tornadoes, for floods, snow, high wind, but lately any one of these weather phenomenon’s can occur at any time.

And how about the weather forecasters? It used to be that their predictions had a 50/50 chance of being precise. The modern technology of today gives it a much better chance of being accurate

On our five years on the farm when I was growing up in the 40s, life was certainly what you could call “old school!” I must add, electricity had been invented, but the REA hadn’t put up the light poles in the country between Buhler and Medora. We used kerosene lamps for lighting, cooked with a kerosene stove, heated with two coal stoves in the 7-bedroom farmhouse we lived in. We pumped our water from outside and drank from a bucket with a dipper. Our only touch with the outside world was a wall telephone with a party line and only worked on occasion.

My dad, however, worked in Hutch and because he drove back and forth, we sometimes heard other world news, even though there were times he had to leave his car by the corner of 82nd Street and Sunrise Road.

We had, however, lived in Oklahoma, Dodge City, Hutchinson, several places in California, and now were enjoying living in our Grandparents farm when they moved to town.

I attended the country school of Sunrise and we seldom had school called off because of the weather. Even though my Dad couldn’t drive me, I would usually make it somehow. Sometimes I walked to the road and hoped the neighbor would come by with his wagon and horses, taking his kids to school. Sometimes I would cut across the wheat field and occasionally got frost bite.

I was always glad when I could walk up the cement steps of the country school and see the other kids. The building was nice and warm, especially by the large pot-bellied stove, the country school teacher kept fed with coal from the shed as she led the eight grades.

As I look back now, I do think the reason I enjoyed it so much was because I had lost my older sister a few years previously and the kids at school felt like my sisters and brothers. They all looked out for one another and it made me feel secure.

The one time they did call off school “because of the weather,” I was very disappointed because I missed the kids. My mother, however, made a lot of sense when she told me stories of her growing up.

It was during  those  years I learned about God and how He loved each of us.

I learned how I could invite him into my heart. I learned 500 Bible verses and made God a part of my life. He has been with me ever since and guided me through all of life’s anxieties  and trials. He is always there for those who have accepted Him and especially He is there “in case of bad weather!”