by Rodney Loftis

Created on: October 06, 2008

WALKING IN A WINTER WONDERLAND

It can truly be said that some of the greatest things in life are given to us from the good Lord. Such was the case in the winter of 1990.

It was the night before Christmas Eve and we had the worst ice storm I had ever seen followed by snow. Living at the bottom of a hill and having bald tires on my car, I was going nowhere. Normally this wouldn't have bothered me except that my siblings and I always spent Christmas Eve with my father. I went to bed that night racking my brain on how on earth I was going to get from Bryant to Benton , a 14 mile trip. Undoubtedly I had a very restless night. By 3:00 in the morning I had been unable to sleep so I finally got up. I turned on the radio and soon learned that the temperature was -4 degrees with a wind chill of -10. This didn't help my situation at all. I opened the door of my trailor and looked outside.

The ground was covered by undisturbed snow and the sky was crystal clear. The stars were bright and the moon lit the sky gently. Everything was glittery and white. Like a soft wind, the answer to my problem came to me. I was going to walk the 14 miles to Benton. At the same time my logic said "Whoa! Let's talk about this." Too late, my mind was set. I began bundling up. This consisted of two pair of pants,a shirt, a sweater, two pair of socks, a bomber coat, an overcoat, gloves, and a hat. I looked about three times bigger than I was. I put all my presents in a large trash bag, locked the door and off I went.

Now Bryant, Arkansas is a very small town and at 3:30 in the morning it's not likely that you will meet anyone and even less someone you are close too on the street,But I did! My ex-girlfriend's parents ran the local paper route and here I was walking down the street looking like a large stuffed animal. They stopped and I explained my plans to them. They left thinking I had totally flipped I'm sure but I didn't really care. A kind of happiness had taken a hold of me that was like a rush of electricity running through my body. This night had something in it that I didn't want to miss.

As I got out of Bryant, I began to wondering if I had lost my mind. I mean only a total idiot would be outside, in the dark, in below freezing weather, heading AWAY from home. "Turn Back", my logic was screaming, but I just kept walking on. Two miles outside of Bryant there are bauxite pits that are partially filled with water, which gives the impression of being a lake surrounded by mountains. With

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