It was last Thursday, Jan. 4, when the big wind started to blow at our house here in Fish Springs. At 4:45 p.m. the snowstorm began to howl while blowing the heavy snow sideways. It was exciting to watch through the living room windows but it reminded me of a similar snowstorm that caused us big problems.
One winter evening in January 1982 we were coming home from the Ormsby House after a fun and delicious buffet dinner with our friends Jim and Kay Finch. The snow wasn't falling too hard in Carson City but by the time we got to Gardnerville it was really wet and heavy. When we hit the dip on Toler Road (do you remember the dip?), the thick snow was blowing totally sideways on our windshield. We slowed way down and crawled back home via all dirt roads (in those days) and dropped Jim and Kay off at their homesteaded ranch across the field from us.
As we approached the front door of our home we heard the loud noise - two fire alarms were blaring. My husband felt the door and then opened it and we saw the smoke. The house wasn't on fire but it was filled with smoke. The sideways wind-blown snow had plugged up the chimney flue and caused the smoke to come back down the pipe of the wood burning stove and into the living room. We quickly opened the west and east windows and the forceful wind blew all the smoke out. Then we opened the not-so-tight wood burning stove door, took out the smoldering log, and threw it outside in the snow. It was a big scare for us and it won't happen again. We have a new and much better stove and we also joined the Fish Springs Volunteer Fire Department and learned a lot more about fire safety.
A procession to the cemetery
On Jan. 6 a team of big, beautiful mules pulled a fancy oak wagon to the cemetery with Ernie Fanning's casket in it. Ernie had made that grand wagon himself, and his son had made the casket that it carried. Another mule with Ernie's empty saddle led the solemn parade from the Fish Springs fire station to the Eastside Memorial Park. A single red rose lay on top of the pine box casket just as Ernie requested in his poem: "All I want is just one red rose on my casket." The six cowboy pallbearers also carried a red rose in remembrance of this authentic cowboy.
It was standing room only as 230 people filled the firehouse to pay their respects and sympathy to Ernie's wife Kay and all the family as they mourned his loss. "Preacher Cowboy" Brent Smith began the tribute when he said; "It's a time for tears and heavy hearts." We heard many friends, family and cowboy poets tell how Ernie influenced them, and yes, there were tears even from the rugged, working cowboys as they told their stories. Tony Iilardia was Ernie's partner for 20 years. On this sad day, he sang several poignant songs including, "One empty plate at the table" and "A saddle that nobody rides." The whole service was very beautiful and touching, and even though Ernie Fanning was thought to be "a little rough around the edges," his many friends said they liked him that way.
n Linda Monohan can be reached at 782-5802.
