January 1, 2010

The rural Virginia countryside had its first snow, and it was several inches deep. School children were hoping for more, but that was all that fell. Folks were out and about going from house to house, to celebrate the New Year, watch bowl games, and generally work off the hangover from the night before. It was a surprise to see Sidney Frome out. After all he was sick. The whole county knew that he was near death’s door. But there he was shuffling through the snow toward town on the road with its picturesque rock walls. Some folks called his name and waved, but he just kept walking looking down at the snow covered ground in front of him.

That evening Sheriff Burnett received a call. It was Marilyn Frome, “Sheriff, Daddy went out and he hasn’t come home.” She sounded frantic. “He said he was feeling better and wanted to see the decorations in town. I tried to talk him out of it, but you know how stubborn he is. I shouldn’t have let him go.” “Calm down now Marilyn,” the Sheriff said. “We’ll see if we can find him”. But his thoughts were much different. “Damn that old fool. I was planning on seeing the Orange Bowl tonight between Oklahoma and SMU. But noooo, now I have to stomp around in the snow and look for his fool self.” “Marilyn, what was he wearing?”, he asked. “He was wearing a blue flannel shirt, one of those ski vests, one of those red checked hats with the ear flaps, and work boots”, she replied. “Any idea what kind of pants he was wearing?” “They were black, I think.” He picked up the radio. “All cars, this is Sheriff Burnett, If you see Sid Frome, get him home. His family’s worried about him. He’s wearing a red checked flannel hat with flaps, blue flannel shirts, ski vest, black pants and work boots.” His deputies combed the roadsides to see if they saw him. Then the snow started again. If he fell down in the snow and needed help, any chance of finding him would be useless now. Any footprints he might have left would be gone now. The countryside had that new snow beauty, like a Christmas card. It was a though God had changed the color scheme of the world. Sheriff Burnett wondered, “Will it be spring before we find that body, if we ever find it?”