tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post1797488596172080050..comments2024-03-29T05:29:08.934-05:00Comments on Every goddamn day: 03/29/24: Storm flashback, 1999: "A heart finds warmth in a frigid city"Neil Steinberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11468057838260476480noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-55233672386192832362018-11-26T19:29:25.929-06:002018-11-26T19:29:25.929-06:00My mother was stranded on a dark and unheated Grey...My mother was stranded on a dark and unheated Greyhound bus during the '67 storm, until being rescued by the Michigan National Guard. My father and uncle left their Loop office and got a hotel room, and stayed downtown for three days. I imagine there was plenty of partying and hanky-panky going on in that hotel.<br /><br />It was semester break and I was marooned at home in the suburbs with my kid sister. We bickered and snarked at each other while I watched the snow slowly cover a stalled car until it was up to the wipers. And when the dog got loose, I chased him through chest-high drifts. Went out for smokes and a poor guy at the drug store was shoveling the entrance out, but it just kept getting reburied. The wind actually knocked me over on the way home.<br /><br />In '79, in South Evanston, I went outside to see if anyone needed help and found an abandoned car right in the middle of Main Street. Some shmuck had spun his rear tires until they MELTED. Then he just walked away. Nothing was moving in any direction. I became a traffic cop and detoured people through a plowed parking lot so they could bypass the mess. Even the buses had to follow my directions. I wanted badly to go home, because it was cold and dark, but I stayed there with my flashlight until I couldn't feel my legs and feet and couldn't raise my arms anymore. Finally, an officer showed up, followed by a tow truck. Getting around in the city itself was even worse for many weeks to come, and Mayor Bilandic was soon out on his ass.<br /><br />Northeast Ohio gets far more snow, because of Lake Erie, but we seldom get anything on the order of the two-foot blizzards that Chicago has seen several times during my lifetime. We got a lot of "little" snows...many days with an inch or two, and occasional bigger ones of maybe half-a-foot or more. But truly deep snows are more rare, and two feet hasn't happened for decades. <br /><br />The seemingly the endless snow, and all it causes, can drive you nuts every winter. Our most popular long-time Cleveland weather prognosticator accurately called it "being nibbled to death by ducks." And nobody gets all that chatty or friendly when it snows. We just bitch and moan and curse--and then start moving it. Most people here are not all that thrilled by snow. And if they are, they aren't for long.Grizz 65https://www.blogger.com/profile/02892702223228764894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-15621896554209274322018-11-26T11:53:47.637-06:002018-11-26T11:53:47.637-06:00I think in a snow storm everyone has to pull toget...I think in a snow storm everyone has to pull together to get through it. I might have to clean my part but everyone has to do theirs and that's where people pull together. Then get together to help out the people that can't do it. Then we walk by one another the rest of the year with a casual "Hello". Until the next snow storm, then we pull together again. You captured the moment beautifully.<br />Connellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18406704590565406630noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-26899288586704386382018-11-26T11:12:57.183-06:002018-11-26T11:12:57.183-06:00Grateful for EGD today, as my carrier missed our b...Grateful for EGD today, as my carrier missed our building with all three dailies. Not shocked. I could write a novel about Chicago snow storms, if I had the talent. 1967, 1978, 1979 and other years I would have to research for accuracy. Stories of community, aggravation and incredible second hand tales, probably true. But safe and warm after clearing the cars, in light of current events I'm thinking about an epic drive home in December 2000. Managing the J&M at Northbrook Court the day of an unexpected snow storm, I left the shop to the night person and headed home to Hanover Park, normally a 45 minute trip. Two hours of stop and go traffic and several inches of snow later I neared Rand and Palatine Roads, planning a layover at the cinemas there, figuring traffic would be better in 3 hours. Unfortunately these theaters had closed, so instead of a restful break I had an additional delay trying to reenter the traffic stream. About four hours later, while in line on the end of the line exit ramp of the Elgin-O'Hare Expressway, a breaking news story about a political trek punctuated my journey as well. The surprise storm had caught shoppers and daily commuters who might have altered plans had they known, and like me they might remember that day also from Al Gore's concession to George W. Bush and the Florida mob that stole the presidency. I hope Herr Drumpf doesn't have any such unhappy surprises for us today. JPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08613528527379198505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-72027550455417382502018-11-26T09:56:59.894-06:002018-11-26T09:56:59.894-06:00It's a "We're all in this together&qu...It's a "We're all in this together" mentality, I think. Crisis brings out the best in many, if not all, of us. Coeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06130250489695215525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-74261963093107588912018-11-26T08:49:33.014-06:002018-11-26T08:49:33.014-06:00Pretty to think so, indeed!
john
Pretty to think so, indeed!<br /><br />john<br />tatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10088632798195131329noreply@blogger.com