I was awakened by the sound of the plow this morning at 7:15 am, sure enough they were right this time with the weather forecast of six to nine inches of snow, since i am no good at measurements i know we received quite a bit of that snow, the plow was in my driveway one of those "cat" plows clearing it out. I am so grateful that my HOA is on the ball, here it is though 10:30am and the snow is still falling they say it will clear up around midnight with three to four more inches. Not to worry I went out Friday and got all the essentials I needed to "hunker down" for several days and I can even stretch it out to a week if need be. I can remember the first time I came to love the beauty of the snow, living in Chicago and living on the third floor of an apartment building you really can't get the perspective nor the beauty of the snow falling. It was Christmas Day yes an actual "White Christmas" we were all dressed up in our new christmas outfits and leaving to go to Gram's for our family christmas. I was maybe 8 or 9 at the time and mom was wondering if we would make it there in our car, we had a volkswagon beetle van with no heat, mom was very concerned about there being no defrosters for the windows, how can we see out the windows if they are all frosted up and frozen over, dad of course never thought of this when he purchased this vehicle. My first step out the door is when I noticed the snow, we lived on a tree lined street on Aberdeen near the boulevard and I had never seen the trees covered in snow and ice, how magnificent this sight was to behold, the snow was still falling gently but I did not feel the cold, it was so still and calm, very serene. I don't remember the drive to Gram's but somehow we made it there and back, even though there was no heat we brought blankets with to keep warm. My next encounter was the snowstorm of "67" we had just moved from Chicago to the south suburbs in December of "66", no buses but they did have school buses which I had never taken before except for one year when I was 10 and had to attend a school for the handicapped due to rheumatic fever and had to take a school bus then, I was quite shocked there being no public transportation out here, thats how i always got around Chicago, going shopping, to museums, even using the bus for school and having tokens for my ride to anywhere, on special occasions we would use the "E'L" and very seldom a taxi ride was a treat. We lived in a three bedroom ranch in the "burbs" and this storm completely covered up the side of our home all the way to the eaves of the roof, the snow covered up my bedroom windows my first encounter with claustrophobia. Dad worked downtown and took the train home and he walked from the train station to our home which was about 8 miles in all that snow. He left his car in the parking lot at the train station due to the fact he could not get out of the lot and the streets were impassable, thinking back on it now was he a brave man or a foolish one? but as he said where would he have stayed he could have been stranded at the station for days so he took a chance and it payed off thank goodness. My younger sister was stranded at her school for several days she had no way to get home and to this day she hates the snow. As for me I was home sick from school for several days so that's how i avoided being stranded and mom kept my younger brother and sister home from school before the storm hit. Feeling better I can remember a few days later having to walk to the grocery store which was probably close to a mile round trip for milk and bread, I remember walking right down the middle of our main busy highway in our town and thought to myself how amazing that was that there was absolutely no vehicles, that was a busy highway so I was kind of in awe how civilization could come to a standstill in my eyes anyway. Getting to the store after trudging through all that deep snow and finding out they were out of milk and bread and just about everything else was a huge disappointment to say the least !! So we survived the snowstorm of "67" us kids loved it but the adults not so much. I really don't remember the storm of "79" that much, but I know there was one in the " 90s" that was the worst for me. We lived (hubby and I) in Indiana on close to 2 acres and we were literally without electricity for two weeks, I remember the storm hit in March but cannot recall the year, I woke up that morning and my living room window was completely covered in ice, I can also remember during this storm there was thunder not sure about the lightning but it was a bad one. I was so grateful we had a woodburning fireplace in our living room we slept there and practically lived in that one room for a full week, no water, no electric, no phone, just heat from our fireplace, heating water on the stovetop, using our port a potty for the bathroom, After maybe 5 days hubby was able to go and get a portable generator which of course they raised the price on, price gouging, the great american way, I hated that thing is was so noisy and loud and had to be babysat every few hours to be fed gas, after that storm we considered getting a permanent generator installed but just never did, We really should have we were in a kind of rural area and every time it stormed or the wind blew the wrong way that electricity would go out, we even had power outages several times a year due to the squirrels getting "zapped" running across the lines. Our electric lines came completely down during that storm that's why we were so long without power. Of course living in a rural area we had to have a tractor for cutting the grass and of course a snow plow had to accompany that, Oh the fight we had about purchasing that piece of equipment, six thousand dollars Jeez my last two surgeries did not even cost that much, but of course we got "ol gertie" why do men have to name their machinery? She gave us her all, after hubby passed away I had to sell her of course no where near of what we paid for her, She was always needing a new belt and it seemed like every season she would need a new tire, but he treated her like the fine woman she was, keeping up with her every whim, oil changes, blade sharpened shining her up after mowing the lawn, When the weather called for a snowstorm he would always go out to the barn the day before to make sure "ol gert" was up for the job and she always satisfied his every whim, as he use to say "you take care of a good woman and she'll return the favor. " and she sure did we had her for over 20 years. Waking up this morning I was reminiscing about how hubby would be suiting up to go plow the driveway and the cul-de-sac and even some of the neighbors driveways, How he would tell me "now don't get jealous I'm going to go ride "Ol Gert for a few hours" keep the coffeepot full and warm please! I would just roll my eyes and say "yes dear" have fun and be careful. In the backround how our "buckwheat" would be going nuts just wanting to jump in that high snow, he wouldn't be out there too long rules were no dog outside while i'm plowing and then how bucky would come back in and sit and whine and cry because he couldn't be out in that snow, he did love the snow that crazy dog !! I miss those two and those days ! Having been thru many a snowstorm even driving in blinding blizzards several times I still love the snow, now I am the type of person who loves it from the indoors, sitting by the window watching it fall gently while i am under a nice warm blanket and in a cozy chair sipping some hot cocoa trying to read a book but that does not hold my attention too long for I am distracted by the beauty of that gentle snowfall outside my window. I love and miss you desperately my sweet man !!! That is all for today my "SPECIAL READERS" Ta-Ta for now !!
