Did you catch that mistake in the last Cuff ?

Whoops, did you catch it? That unbelievable mistake in the last ‘cuff? You didn’t? I’ll bet a quarter (big spender) that somebody did. The error jumped out at me like an overdraft notice.

Okay, just what was that big mistake? It didn’t involve spelling or punctuation which are my common mistakes. Simply put, it involved numbers. That’s right — if you give me more than two or three numbers, my not-so-accurate fingers will, well, you know the rest. But what was the mistake? It was the date for the coldest temperature which occurred at the Gravette weather station. It came out in print, straight from the keys on this little SmithCorona: February 5, 1905. Wrong! It happened on what was possibly a Friday: February 15, 1905. How could I make a two-digit error? It’s easy — ‘nuff said. Now on to other stuff in this conglomerations ‘cuff.

This week, a big thank you goes to a company headquartered in Kansas City. It involves work underway in and between most towns in Westside Eagle Observer territory. You probably put two and two (got those numbers correct) together that it involves maintenance on the Kansas City Southern rail line. That line made it through our western Benton County area way back in the late 1800s. It first arrived in Sulphur Springs in 1889 and, within just a few years, made it to Gravette, Decatur, Gentry and Siloam Springs before heading into IT (you know, that was Indian Territory which didn’t become Oklahoma until 1907). The railroad played a major part in the development of our neck of the woods.

But back to the thanks. That goes to the great maintenance of the line which continues to whistle through our area … but especially in Gravette with the reconstruction of the Dallas Street rail crossing which has provided a pretty bumpy ride for several years. Besides the overpass, the Dallas Crossing is the only vehicle crossing within miles. It (the crossing) has been repaired many times, but now it’s as smooth as a … you fill in the blank. Thanks, KCS, your maintenance crew did a great construction job.

Now, on to another topic: Fayetteville.

Attention, Fayetteville. Did you know your city was mentioned on that popular program on the tube, “Jeopardy,” recently? The question to the three competitors was, “What is the name of the hometown for the Arkansas Razorbacks?” You guessed it. Not one of the three even tried a guess. They all looked pretty blank and didn’t perk up much when the name Fayetteville was announced. It’s time to get out a public relations statement informing the nation that the importance of recognizing

Fayetteville is as important as calling the Hogs — or more?

The weather. Here we go again, Yep, Mom Nature threw us and more than half the nation a deep curve into uncharted almost zero temps, setting records for many areas. To be honest, since I don’t have records earlier than 1926, one of these days I’ll check all of the November 11 and 12 frigid temps in the area. I’ll make it a project for next year. But there is another bit of weather information involving records: precipitation at the Gravette NOAA location. If you talk weather to anybody these days and, in fact, most years, the subject would always dwell on how much rain we’ve received. The average 12-month total is less than 50 inches, just a bit over 44 or 45. So what about this year? The total for the first 10 months (through October) and the first 10 days of November … get ready … the total is more than 80 (that’s eighty) inches, 80.64 inches to be exact.

The previous record was 71.91” in 1973, followed by 71.28” in 2008 (remember that deluge?) The least amount in a year occurred in 1963 when 21.66” was recorded and 23.94” in 1936. Last year’s total was 48.10.” Just a couple of other winter tidbits: The temp on Nov. 11, 1950, was a frigid 9 degrees and 7 degrees was recorded on Nov. 13, 14 and 15, 1940. And what about snow? Two and one-half inches was recorded on Nov. 9, 2000, and 3 inches fell on Nov. 1, 1951. And just five years ago, on Nov. 18, 2014, the ground was covered with 1 1/2 inches of snow and it was a frigid 10 degrees.

Just one other tidbit involves something I had promised to ignore after writing about it last spring. You guessed it! It’s about turning on those headlights when it’s rainy or misty or foggy and especially when side windows are covered with raindrops. Crossing Highways 59 and 72 was a challenge during recent nasty mornings when visibility was poor. It’s a mystery how accidents did not happen when motorists could barely catch a glimpse of a fast moving car headed down the highway to a street crossing, no lights, no slower speed, and no … that’s enough.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday with family and others, never forgetting what the name of the holiday is. Our freedom did not “just happen” and its continuance depends on a thankfulness we experience and promote. And a white Thanksgiving? Hmmm.