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Categories Book Reviews

Book Review: Laura Ingalls Wilder by William Anderson

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I’ve read my fair share of Laura Ingalls Wilder biographies for children–most (if not all) of them fitting into the glossy paged photograph-laden category. Each biography has a tendency to veer one of two directions: either it focuses almost entirely on the information Laura shared in her Little House books (thereby adding nothing for the avid reader) or it focuses almost entirely on the ways reality deviated from the Little House books (thereby destroying a young reader’s trust in the essential historicity of Wilder’s novels.)

Laura Ingalls Wilder: A biography by William Anderson is as different from those biographies as a book can be. It is not a glossy picture book with minimal text. It is not simply a retelling of Laura’s Little House books. Neither is it a critical look at how Laura changed her story.

Instead, it’s an honest to goodness biography written at a reading level (and in a style) similar to Laura’s “Little House” books. Anderson explicitly mentions some things that are different from the books (for instance, that Laura was actually much younger than described in Little House on the Prairie when her family settled in Indian territory); but he mostly writes Laura’s story as it occurred, letting the Wilder fan take notes of where stories were slightly altered or moved to a different context in the Little House books.

I loved it.

I think this book would have been very accessible to me in the throughs of my first Little House obsession (age 6-8), and would have added to my understanding of pioneer life (and Laura’s life in particular) without dissuading me from love for the Little House series.

It is a book of substance not of fluff, written simply but not condescendingly. I recommend it highly.

Having said all that, I think it is important that I clarify. This book is written for an elementary to middle school audience, so it doesn’t go into great detail about certain things. Those who are interested in a more in-depth discussion of Pa’s squatting on an Indian reservation or of other harsh components of pioneer life will be disappointed. Don’t expect an adult biography. But, for what it is, a children’s biography of a beloved author, this is a very good book.

I read this title as a part of Barbara H’s Laura Ingalls Wilder Reading Challenge. You can check out what other people have been reading at her wrap up post.

Rating: 4 stars
Category: Children’s biography
Synopsis: A biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder from birth to death; written for an elementary to middle grade audience.
Recommendation: Definitely recommended for the target audience (although older folks can enjoy it too).

Categories Work

I make my own

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Occasionally, I get really curious about my clients. Not a professional curiosity, a personal curiosity.

Like when one of my clients told me she makes her own herbal tea.

I knew that I should be asking her about what herbs they contain for professional reasons, so I can ensure that what she’s drinking is safe for her and baby. But what I really wanted to know was what herbs she uses…for personal reasons.

I’m a huge fan of herbal tea (actually tisanes and not tea at all). I’d love to make my own blends. But I just haven’t gotten around to it.

So when she said “I make my own herbal tea”, I said “Really? Tell me what you use.”

“The tea bag from the natural foods store and water.”

*Facepalm*

I really will make my own one of these days. I will not be using the tea bag from the natural foods store.

Categories What's on Your Nightstand?

Nightstand (February 2014)

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What with all my project doing, I haven’t been reading quite as much this month. Even more, I haven’t been finishing books this month. I still have at least a half dozen in progress.

This month, I read:

  • Wonder by R.J. Palacio
    The story of a 5th Grade boy with craniofacial abnormalities due to a rare genetic disorder. August goes to school for the first time and learns that middle schoolers can be cruel and kind and awful and awesome. Or something like that. I wasn’t a huge fan. Read my full review here
  • Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein
    First, she witnesses a plane going down. A fellow air transport auxillary pilot made a heroic attempt and failed. Then she makes her own heroic attempt, and she goes down–escorted into Germany where she ends up in Ravensbruck, a witness to horrific events. This is undoubtedly the best book I’ve read so far this year–and likely one of the best I’ll read all year. If I haven’t already convinced you to read it, check out my full review.
  • Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
    I re-read this for Barbara’s Laura Ingalls Wilder Reading Challenge and in conjunction with the Reading to Know Classic Book Club–and found my experience reading it very different this time. I’ve become much more sensitive to the interactions between Ma and Pa–and to the reality that the family was illegally squatting on land that wasn’t their own in hopes that it would soon be available for settlement.
  • Four children’s picture books, author BO

Books In Progress

Books In Progress, Part 1

Left over from last month’s list:

  • Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Biography by William Anderson
    I’m still hoping to get this one done and reviewed this month for Barbara’s Laura Ingalls Wilder Reading Challenge.
  • One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp
  • The 1920s edited by John F. Wukovits
  • Discover your Inner Economist by Tyler Cowen
  • No More Sleepless Nights by Peter Hauri and Shirley Linde
  • To-Do List by Sasha Cagen
  • Sumer and the Sumerians by Harriet Crawford

Books In Progress

Books In Progress, Part 2

New Additions to Works in Progress:

  • Betty Crocker’s Bread Machine Cookbook
    I’ve never had good success with bread prepared and baked in the bread machine (I don’t have a problem with the dough cycle), but I wanted to try again. The buttermilk white bread turned out perfectly–so I’m eager to try a few more recipes (maybe I can get a good whole wheat loaf?)
  • The Garden Primer by Barbara Damrosch
    I started my peppers and tomatoes last night, and am eager to have a successful garden this year (crossing fingers.)
  • The Black Moth by Georgette Heyer
    I just barely started this, thinking I wanted some more fiction–but the projects and nonfiction have kept me busy, so I’ve stalled.
  • Program Your Baby’s Health by Barbara Luke and Tamara Eberlein
    Because I’m interested in seeing how the prenatal program prepared by Luke and Eberlein (of Harvard School of Public Health) stacks up to my own.

I’ve also picked up The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge, which I’ll be reading along with the Reading to Know Classic Book Club.

Don’t forget to drop by 5 Minutes 4 Books to see what others are reading this month!

What's on Your Nightstand?

Categories Book Reviews

Book Review: Wonder by R.J. Palacio

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August Pullman has only ever been homeschooled, with only a few friends outside of his family. So when his parents decide it’s a good idea to send him to a local private middle school for fifth grade (go figure), he’s understandably nervous.

Except August isn’t just nervous because he’s a sheltered homeschooler. He’s worried because…well, his face…

August was born with a rare genetic anomaly (never given the name Treacher-Collins in the book, but that’s what it is) that resulted in a slew of “craniofacial abnormalities”. That’s the nice way to say it.

Most kids just call him “freak”.

My church’s book club selected this book for their February discussion, so Daniel and I listened to an audio version on our way up to and back down from Lincoln this last weekend.

Let me tell you first that the women in the bookclub were almost unanimous in loving this book. I felt a bit like a sore thumb, as the newest member of the group (it was my first discussion with them) and as one who just wasn’t crazy about Wonder.

It was a nice story. It was cute. It was the first book I’ve read in which the main character had craniofacial abnormalities. But it wasn’t great.

The story was told from the perspective of a half dozen kids, alternating narrators every few chapters (with a bit of overlap on key scenes). I liked seeing from multiple limited viewpoints. But the kids all sounded alike (that is, there wasn’t anything in the writing to make them different–the voice actors were VERY different.) A couple of high schoolers who gave their perspectives added elements I didn’t like, that I thought were too mature for a novel about a fifth grader.

Furthermore, I felt like both the story and the characters were there to serve a moral. The author was trying to make a point first and the story was just there to make that point.

I feel bad, writing such a negative sounding review. So many others loved this book–and I concede that it’s not a bad book.

But my perspective is likely clouded by my experience reading Tony Abbott’s Firegirl (link to my review). Like Wonder, Firegirl is a middle grade novel about a child with a “deformed” face. Both are told from a child’s perspective. Both have a moral of sorts. But Firegirl outperforms Wonder in every way (assuming my memory of Firegirl is accurate.)

Firegirl is very suitable for a middle grade audience, with little besides necessary discomfort with the topic to give any pause. Firegirl has dynamic, well-formed characters. And Firegirl doesn’t make obsessive mention of popular culture, making it suitable for more than just the next two years (I got so frustrated with the “product placement” in Wonder. Just off the top of my head, we’ve got mention of an iMac, an X-box 360, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Star Wars, some brand name jacket/hoodie, and a cartoon I didn’t recognize. And that’s with me not being a detail person–especially not when listening versus actually reading.)

So, yeah. Um.

Read Firegirl.

Rating: 3 stars
Category: Middle Grade Fiction
Synopsis: Fifth Grade August Pullman, whose face is disfigured by a rare congenital condition, goes to school with other kids for the first time.
Recommendation: Clearly not my favorite book. It wasn’t awful, but Tony Abbott’s Firegirl did a much better job with a similar story.

Categories Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday: Project Edition

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Some weeks the theme for Thankful Thursday just flows perfectly. Sometimes I leave out dozens of items in order to keep my post within a theme. And sometimes I have a really tenuous theme, like today. I’ve gotten a lot done in the past week and I’m really thankful that I’ve had opportunity to get so much done. It has been relaxing, energizing, life-enhancing.

I do NOT relax by being unproductive. Lack of productivity makes me crabby.

And I complain in abundance (unfortunately) when I am unproductive.

Which is all the more reason that I should give thanks to God when I have weeks like the last one–weeks full of activity and accomplishment.

This week I’m thankful…

…for a reading road trip
It took me a while to figure out how to get ahold of someone who knew what book the book club at church would be reading for February–and once I’d found out, I had to request said book at the (public) library. Turns out, I didn’t request it soon enough to get a paper copy–so I ended up with an audio version last week (that had to be listened to before our meeting tonight.) But we just so happened to be taking a road trip into Lincoln this past weekend, so Daniel and I listened to R.J. Palacio’s Wonder along the way. Since I was having intermittent nausea (gotta love going off the pseudoephedrine), I very much appreciated something to listen to as Daniel drove.

…for quilting companions
My sister-in-law mentioned quilting at the beginning of the year, and we planned this weekend to get some done. Joanna sat on the couch with her hoop, hand quilting a quilt top she’d picked up at a garage sale. I sat at the table on the opposite end of the room, piecing log cabin blocks at my machine and then taking them into Mom’s office to iron. When I went into the office, I shared the iron back and forth with Mom, who was piecing blocks for Anna’s faux-double-wedding-ring quilt. We didn’t have a crazy lot of conversation, but we did have what is nicest when quilting: companionship. God has blessed me greatly by giving me a family I so enjoy and hobbies that we can enjoy together.

…for an evening off
Daniel had class Monday evening and I’d been dreaming up household projects to do, so I took the opportunity of him being gone to get started. I figured out how to get our plane working and planed down the door to the office/someday-nursery so it actually fits into the door frame. I do so love being productive, and the chance to get something done was a huge morale booster.

…for a taste of spring
The snow from a couple of weeks ago was lovely, but so was this last week’s springy temperatures. I took full advantage of the weather by setting up my sawhorses on the driveway and going to town scraping and sanding the closet door for the office/someday-nursery.

…for the promise of projects to come
Tomorrow night, some girls from church are coming over to craft. I’m hoping to get some embroidery done–and am very much looking forward to visiting with my new friends. Then, on Saturday, Daniel and I are planning on getting some more scraping and painting done (hopefully, we can complete the bathroom door too.) Progress on projects is great, and it’s even greater when I have the promise of completing projects.

…for the promise of a final active rest
I love Jesus’ response to His critics in John 5:16-17. He had just finished healing a man and telling that same man to pick up his mat and walk–and the Pharisees went nuts with criticism for both healing and telling a man to “work” on the Sabbath.

“And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, ‘My Father is working until now, and I am working.'”
~John 5:16-17

The implication is that God is at work, even now, on His Sabbath rest from all His work of creating. And Hebrews promises that we, the redeemed, shall one day enter into that same Sabbath rest.

“So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.”
~Hebrew 4:9-10 (ESV)

Praise God that a Sabbath rest remains, not one of hardship imposed by laws against healing and picking up mats, but an active rest. Praise God that the Sabbath rest He invites His people into isn’t idleness, but instead is life-enriching active rest.

Thank You, Lord, that I can rest in all my labors this week, and that You have prepared a way, through Your works alone (no work of mine) that I can enter into Your rest at last.

Categories Homemaking

Plans, Projects, and Pregnancy

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When we got married almost a year ago, we knew we wanted to make paying off student loans a top priority. We want to have children, and when we have them, we want for me to be able to stay at home with them.

Getting our student loans paid off before we start having children would go a long way toward making that wish a reality.

Which means that we carefully planned our budget such that most of my income goes towards principle on student loans (while Daniel’s still provides the minimum payments-so that we’d have an easily flexible arrangement if a surprise came along.)

It also means that we have a specific date for when we expect to have our loans paid off–and a specific date for when we think we can start “trying” for a baby.

And, since I’m a planner, it means I have a whole list of tasks to be completed before, around, or after those magic dates.

Before we start trying, I need to get my last two wisdom teeth pulled (don’t want to go under OR risk damaging any of my amalgam fillings if there’s a possibility I might be pregnant). I need to evaluate my current medication use and see if I can find effective alternatives to the ones that aren’t safe for pregnancy (like pseudoephedrine.) And I need to get in all the lead exposure I intend to get until the baby’d be at least one.

Does that last one surprise you a bit?

I don’t imagine it’s something many people think of when they start planning a pregnancy.

But lead exposure during pregnancy or breastfeeding can be dangerous to a baby’s health. And my old house likely contains plenty of lead.

Which means that if I need to do any home improvements before baby turns one (the earliest I would consider stopping breastfeeding), I need to do them before we get pregnant.

And, since I’m a project person, of course I have some home improvement projects that I want to get completed.

I want to get the interior doors all sanded down and repainted (we started this last summer but haven’t finished yet!) I want to scrape all the flaking paint from our hall cabinets and trim and get the hall repainted (especially important because I don’t want a toddler coming into contact with potentially-lead-containing pain flakes). And I want to finish vacuuming down the peeling paint in my craft room downstairs so I can hang pegboard on the wall frame my sister-in-law so graciously finished for me last September.

Which means I’m deep in the throughs of project-happiness: removing and soaking door hardware to remove a half dozen layers of paint. Scraping and sanding the doors. Trying to guesstimate when I can have the doors finished, how I’m going to do the hallway (it’ll be more difficult, since not all the parts that contain peeling paint can be taken off and taken outside for scraping like the doors can.)

What am I doing?

Projects. Getting ready for pregnancy. Planning ahead.

Categories WIC, Work

Literally Lying

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Names and other details have been changed to comply with HIPAA; otherwise, this story is closely based on a true story :-)

“Are you going to get Shirley some new food?” she asked.

I agreed that yes I was–I would be back in a few minutes.

I returned with checks in hand, delivered them to Sherry and Shirley’s mom, and wished the family a good day.

“She said she was going to get Shirley some new food.” Sherry told her mom.

Mom explained. “She did. She gave me checks, which are sort of like money so I can get Shirley her food. Now we have to go to the grocery store to get the food.”

“Can I tell her something?” Sherry asked her mother.

When Mom said yes, Sherry turned to me. “You said that you were going to give Shirley some new food.”

I tried to explain while Mom laughed, “Sherry, you take this so literally.”

Finally, I realized that the abstractness of a check was beyond Sherry’s 3 year old mind. “I’m sorry, Sherry. I should have been more clear. I was going to get checks so your mom could buy Shirley some new food.”

As Sherry and her family left, I heard mom trying to explain again while Sherry continued to insist: “But she said she was going to get Shirley some new food.”

There’s never a boring moment when you’re working with kids.

Have you ever unintentionally “lied” to a child?

Categories Book Reviews

Book Review: Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein

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I read this book as a part of Amy’s Armchair Cybils. Rose Under Fire was a finalist for the young adult fiction category. Sadly, it did not win, but I think it definitely deserves its position as a finalist.

It starts with a funeral and a report–the funeral of a fellow Air Transport Auxillary pilot, the report Rose must write because she saw the pilot’s failed landing.

How will Rose write about this report? In a way, she feels responsible. She had flown that plane before, the pilot who died hadn’t. She’d briefed the dead pilot on flying that plane. She’d let the other pilot take off first with Rose following behind. But the conversation Rose had with the mechanic who inspected the crashed plane complicates the matter. The plane had been damaged prior to landing. It’d had contact with something. The mechanic thought the pilot had tried tipping a buzz bomb–knocking it off course so it’d explode in an empty field instead of a city where it could injure people.

Rose becomes obsessed with the buzz bombs. They aren’t just buzzing overhead, going silent, and then knocking out whole city blocks–they’re getting much closer. Her colleague is dead. Her bus ride on her day off is spent on the floor of the bus for fear of one falling on them. She finds two boys playing with one undetonated one and orders them away, is left holding a fuse in her hand. She dreams of her little brother with his arm blown off by a buzz bomb fuse.

She talks to her fellow pilots about the buzz bombs, about this “tipping” thing. What are the mechanics? How does one do it? How does one not injure her plane like their colleague did?

Not that she’s likely to encounter a buzz bomb. The allies are advancing, have taken back France. She’s just transporting, not likely to be anywhere near the lines from which the bombs are launched.

Until she is. And a buzz bomb comes near. And she can chase it, can tip it.

And she gets caught by two German planes who escort her back to Germany.

Ravensbruck. The pilot who flew her to prison regards it as just a pilot’s navigation point. Rose finds that it’s so much more. Once there, she experiences unthinkable horrors, sees even worse.

Daily life is a struggle for survival. Physically, yes–but so much more. How does one not despair when stuck amidst maggots, when propping up dead compatriots so that the numbers can match during roll call, when left to the mercy of hellish guards and insufficient food?

Only the few who resist the temptation to despair will survive. Despair means certain death.

How will Rose fare under fire?

It’s difficult to describe a book so rich in historical details, so emotionally compelling, so horrific and so lovely.

Rose Under Fire is not an easy book to read. Ravensbruck is described in stomach-turning detail. One can sense the desperation, the horror of that time and place. One is forced to come to grips with the fact that this- this is what fallen humans can do, have done, could do again.

Davene does a much better job than I ever could of expressing the emotion and thoughts this book evoked.

“But tonight, I feel as if the veil has been lifted, and I’ve glimpsed anew what life is and has been like for so many people born into circumstances so much more difficult than mine. That chasm is so wide that I can’t even mentally reconcile it, but I can–and I will, every single day–say thank you for this life I’ve been given.”

If you haven’t read this book yet, you should. You will find yourself torn up over the reality of sin and injustice, thankful for the life you have now, and prayerful that justice and peace would reign someday over the earth (as it will, we have this blessed hope, when our Lord returns.)

Rating: 5 Stars
Category: YA Historical Fiction
Synopsis: After “tipping” a buzz bomb from the sky, Rose, a fearless Air Transport Auxillary pilot, finds herself in Ravensbruck witness to and victim of unspeakable horrors.
Recommendation: Read this.

Categories Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday: Winter Wonderland

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We’ve had snow for over a week here in Wichita, which has been uh-MAZ-ing. It started last Monday morning and piled up a fair bit. It was cold enough that it stuck around all week long–and then we got another spate on Sunday to keep it up. Since Sunday’s snowfall, it’s warmed to above freezing every day–so the streets are now mostly dry, but the yards remain a winter wonderland.

I’m loving it.

This week I’m thankful…

…for a winter song
Why is it that we only hear Winter Wonderland before Christmas? It’s totally sad, because it isn’t a Christmas song at all–it’s a winter song, and a snowy winter song to boot. ‘Round here, and even in Nebraska, the chances of enjoying a winter wonderland are definitely better AFTER Christmas. I really enjoyed singing “Winter Wonderland” with gusto while traveling hither and yon through Wichita’s Winter Wonderland.

…for the opportunity to wear my snowsuit
Years ago, before I left Lincoln, I purchased a bright red full body snowsuit at a garage sale in Lincoln. Since moving to Wichita, it has hung forelorn in my coat closet, never seeing the light of day. Even though there was snow last winter, it really didn’t stick around enough for me to be out in it. This year, I bundled up in it to take my weekly trip to the Braums down the street to get our milk (Of course I walk, even if there’s six inches of snow–it’s only a twenty minute round trip.) Then I wore it again for an Olympics opening party my friend Ruth hosted. That’s twice in one week!

…for a strong husband who shovels, scrapes, and sweeps
More than once, over the last couple of weeks, I have arrived home to find my husband hard at work shoveling the driveway. More than once, I’ve come out to my car in the morning to find it already swept free of snow and scraped free of frost. So far, I haven’t done any shoveling this winter–my husband has done it without a complaint.

…for hope for an allergy-free spring
Well, probably not allergy-free. But the week of temps below freezing have me hopeful that my allergies will be a little less severe this year-especially since I’m experimenting with minimal medications for them after years of taking at least three daily allergy meds :-/

…for brightness to cover February’s drear
February has always struck me as the dreariest month of the year. The holidays are over, winter is in full force, and it seems like it’s been ages since we saw the sun. The sky is gray, the days are still short, and everything seems dingy. The regular snowfall of the past couple of weeks has kept this February bright and shiny. The sides of the streets start to get dingy with spray, but then a new little snowfall covered it all up again with fresh white.

…for a reminder
When the snow falls and covers the land, I am reminded…

of God’s power

“He gives snow like wool;
he scatters frost like ashes.
He hurls down his crystals of ice like crumbs;
who can stand before his cold?”
~Psalm 147:16-17 (ESV)

of His sovereignty over creation

“For to the snow he says, ‘Fall on the earth,’
likewise to the downpour, his mighty downpour.”
~Job 37:6 (ESV)

of my littleness in light of His greatness

“Have you entered the storehouses of the snow,
or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,
which I have reserved for the time of trouble,
for the day of battle and war?”
~Job 38:22-23 (ESV)

of the One who invites His people to reason together

“Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.”
~Isaiah 1:18 (ESV)

of the cry I daily make

“Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.”
~Psalm 51:7 (ESV)

And then I join with the snow in singing the praises of the One who makes me like snow.

“Praise the Lord from the earth,
you great sea creatures and all deeps,
fire and hail, snow and mist,
stormy wind fulfilling his word!”
~Psalm 148:7-8 (ESV)

As a bonus: Because I know you’re dying to know how much snow the Menter Dynasty’s locations get before and after Christmas, I’ve prepared a chart for you :-)

Average Snowfall Before and After the Holidays

Before January 1st After January 1st
Columbus, NE 8.9″ 22″
Lincoln, NE 8.6″ 17.2″
Madison, WI 17.6″ 33.3″
Okinawa, Japan 0″ 0″
Wichita, KS 5.6″ 9.3″
Categories Everyday Life

Why a little snow in Southern climes is worth freaking out about

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A little over a year ago, I moved 230 miles south from Lincoln, NE to Wichita, KS. It’s not a huge distance. It can be traveled in just more than four hours by car. But it’s the difference between expecting regular snowfall during the winter and not. It’s the difference between experiencing accumulation and not.

Wichita rarely gets snow–and when it does, it generally disappears within 24 hours.

Except for the past two winters. Last year, Wichita had enough snow that they cancelled school for a week.

At first, I, like a whole host of northerners, scoffed at what I considered to be unnecessary closures. But a year of living in Wichita has convinced me that a little snow in Southern climes really IS worth freaking out about.

Do you doubt me?

If you’re from Nebraska or South Dakota or Minnesota, you probably do. But let me make my case.

You’ve heard some from the south talk about how their road maintenance crews are ill-equipped for any amount of snow. This is true in many places–Wichita has snowplows and salt stores, but many more southerly locations do not.

But I feel that the reason a little snow is worth freaking out about has to do with another sort of resource: human resources.

The fact is, southern drivers haven’t driven in snow. They don’t know what they should or shouldn’t be doing. They don’t have the knowledge or the experience to safely handle even small amounts of snow.

In Nebraska, there were three types of unsafe winter drivers: the kids who’d never driven on ice before, the new SUV owners who were overconfident because of their vehicles, and the old women who were roadhogs.

In Wichita, there is only one type of unsafe winter drivers: everyone.

Because no one knows how to drive in snow.

This isn’t their fault. It’s not that they’re bad drivers (although many of them are, unfortunately). It’s just that they have neither the education nor the experience to drive in snow appropriately.

They’re terrified, so they drive far more slowly than the weather merits. They can’t see well, so they drive far more closely together than is safe. They start sliding, so they slam on their brakes. They slide more and it’s slow-mo bumper cars.

The few who do know how to drive in snow (maybe they moved down from Nebraska?) don’t have much recourse except to drive slowly but with adequate distance between cars. The roads are too clogged with slow-driving citizens to let them practice their safe-snow-driving skills.

So what is a southern city to do?

I recommend that they freak out.

Close schools. Let people work from home. Only have essential employees come in.

Keep people off the roads so that the only people on them are those who either have to be or who know how to safely drive on them.

Short of transplanting every resident to a norther clime for a winter and having them practice driving with a native, I think that freaking out is the most reasonable option.