My Life In Blizzards
We like to compare major events, so it's natural that all over the news there are comparisons of this current blizzard to the storm of '96 and the storm of '78. I found this link from NOAA Satellite Information with a new way to measure the impact of storms in the Northeast.
1978
I'm surprised that the storm in '78 is ranked so low, I remember it as being pretty intense. Then again, I was living in Toledo at the time, 16 years old, and my father had died a few weeks earlier. Since our entire family lived in West Virginia, my father's flying parner (he was half owner in a small plane) flew my dad's body down to WV and my mom, brother and I followed on a commercial flight. This took some time to coordinate, and unfortunately we were stranded in Pittsburg in a bad snowstorm for a few days at the airport. This was actually before the blizzard, which - by the time my dad's funeral was over and we made it back home - hit with full force. I think my mother - who was one of the most sane people I've ever known - came closer to madness in those two storms than I'd ever seen her.
My brother and I thought the blizzard was a rare treat - it was a blast, we were home from school for days, we had friends over and spent a lot of time outside climbing the huge piles of snow the plows had left in front of our apartment complex.
1993
After my third date with Gerry, he came to watch my cats while I was traveling in North Carolina (working on a stadium show called, "Lucas Live" to tour through Japan. I built the Wookie...) My cat, Spunky, was pregnant and I didn't want to leave her alone. One night when I got back to my hotel there was a message, "It's a boy! It's a girl! It's a boy! It's a girl! It's a boy!" The clerk said she hoped that it was referring to a pet...
Upon my return home he picked me up at the airport and it was starting to snow as he drove me home. By the time we were in Brooklyn it was apparent that the storm was going to be bad, so he decided to stay over - me, Gerry, and seven cats, He never left.
1996
A few weeks after I'd had a laparascopic procedure to aid in our quest for a baby, Gerry and I found ourselves at home surrounded by 24" of snow. We lived across from Prospect Park in Brookly, so we went for a long, romatic walk in a practically deserted landscape. We came home and watched cross-country skiers from the roof of our building, fixed ourself a nice dinner with a bottle of wine, and the rest is red-headed history.
1978I'm surprised that the storm in '78 is ranked so low, I remember it as being pretty intense. Then again, I was living in Toledo at the time, 16 years old, and my father had died a few weeks earlier. Since our entire family lived in West Virginia, my father's flying parner (he was half owner in a small plane) flew my dad's body down to WV and my mom, brother and I followed on a commercial flight. This took some time to coordinate, and unfortunately we were stranded in Pittsburg in a bad snowstorm for a few days at the airport. This was actually before the blizzard, which - by the time my dad's funeral was over and we made it back home - hit with full force. I think my mother - who was one of the most sane people I've ever known - came closer to madness in those two storms than I'd ever seen her.
My brother and I thought the blizzard was a rare treat - it was a blast, we were home from school for days, we had friends over and spent a lot of time outside climbing the huge piles of snow the plows had left in front of our apartment complex.
1993
After my third date with Gerry, he came to watch my cats while I was traveling in North Carolina (working on a stadium show called, "Lucas Live" to tour through Japan. I built the Wookie...) My cat, Spunky, was pregnant and I didn't want to leave her alone. One night when I got back to my hotel there was a message, "It's a boy! It's a girl! It's a boy! It's a girl! It's a boy!" The clerk said she hoped that it was referring to a pet...
Upon my return home he picked me up at the airport and it was starting to snow as he drove me home. By the time we were in Brooklyn it was apparent that the storm was going to be bad, so he decided to stay over - me, Gerry, and seven cats, He never left.
1996A few weeks after I'd had a laparascopic procedure to aid in our quest for a baby, Gerry and I found ourselves at home surrounded by 24" of snow. We lived across from Prospect Park in Brookly, so we went for a long, romatic walk in a practically deserted landscape. We came home and watched cross-country skiers from the roof of our building, fixed ourself a nice dinner with a bottle of wine, and the rest is red-headed history.
Feed me, baby!
7 Comments:
Aren't marker events like the snowstorms fun to trace back-like a thread to hold on to, going back through your life and seeing the crazy random pattern?
What a souvenier from that snowstorm!!!
I remember that snowstorm in 78--I had a very bad case of chickenpox and missed ALL of the snow fun. The snow forts, the snowmen, the week off school. I was stuck inside WATCHING. Oatmeal baths. Calamine lotion. The worst.
I was READY for my kids to get the C-Pox vacinne when it came available. I don't want them missing the greatest snowstorm of their life by being sick. Like I was.
Hi Annie -- Last night I was listening to your interview on Knit Cast while I was knitting on a project. Suddenly I heard you say that you'd been purling "wrong" and then heard you describe how you'd been purling "wrong" just as I was making a purl stitch on my project. Your "wrong" was of purling is exactly how I purl now! I had no idea I was doing it "wrong" and I've been knitting for about 2 years now! Sure enough, I went to the Knittinghelp.com web site, watched their video for Enlish purl stitch and saw that I'm purling wrong too! So my question to you is, now what? Should I change to the right way of purling or stick with my wrong way? Like you, I think my knitting is lovely and am not sure I would want to change anything about it. Although I must confess that I'm really considering learning how to knit continental style so that I can become a faster knitter... especially with the 3 X 1 ribbing that I'm doing right now for my Tubey (from Knitty.com) project. Any advice for this "wrong" knitter?
What a great set of milestones! I love the snow and getting derailed by snowstorms, a great excuse to get to stay home. My fondest memory is back in 1990, when we were housebound several days and I found my two youngest had donned their bathing suits, at ages 4 and 6, turned the top mattress on the bunk beds sideways and were "surfing" down it.
I remember all of my great snowstorms too. In the blizzard of '96 I was visiting a friend in NY. I left early to get back before it got too bad, took the train back to Maryland. Got in my car at the train station to go home, and encountered 2 feet of snow on the Washington Beltway. I ended up stranded at a hotel that had run out of food. When the snow finally stopped and the plows came out I was able to drive home. My husband was at home with my 2 kids, who at the time were 6 and 4. I was so happy to see them!
I really only have one blizzard story. My 20th birthday weekend was swallowed whole by a blizzard in Nebraska in '96. It provided me excellent time for planning my escape to a warmer climate.
Driving home in the white out was pretty fun though. I was proud of my VW Cabriolet and myself as we cautiously drove past many a stranded SUV.
Blizzards are so exciting when you're a kid. I was 10 in 1978 in NE Indiana. My dad was on the volunteer fire dept. so we were busy delivering diapers, milk, bread, formula, etc. on snowmobiles. I also remember huge mounds of snow perfect for making intricate snow forts. We need more blizzards!
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