Snow Daze

Weather “experts” were predicting a significant amount of snow in my part of NJ in January 2022. So far in 2023 nothing. While I am grateful that it did not materialize, it made be think about the days in grammar school when the nightly news predicated a snowstorm. I remember going to bed with the anticipation of a school closing the next morning, and if it was really bad two days off!

You never thought that much about what the adults had to deal with, but at least they didn’t have to run to the store for milks it was delivered to your door step. Now I remember outcomes… 1) What no snow; 2) Snow, but barely enough to close school; 3) Blizzard. We couldn’t wait to get outside. There were igloos to build, sledding to get done, snowballs fights and snowmen to build. We couldn’t wait to get outside. Some how, without messaging, everyone knew were to be. There was big hill around the corner from my house, with very little traffic and we some how managed to get there at the same time. 

Cold was never a factor. We would be out for hours, come home for lunch and some Nestle’s Hot Cocoa made with whole milk, maybe a sandwich, a change into dry clothes and back out again. By the end of the day you were bruised and exhausted and hoping school would still be closed the next day. I went to Catholic School so that was rare, the nuns weren’t going for that crap. 

Now high school that was a different story. I had a bus and two subway train commute. Some how waiting on the corner for the bus was not as much fun as sliding down the hill. I was lucky in that the bus stop was right across the street and I was able to time it to the minute. The bus dropped you off right at the subway, so you just had to maneuver the icy steps without breaking your neck. Once on the subway you had the pleasure of the rubber boot/wet wool smell to greet you. If you were unlucky you picked the unheated subway car. I had to switch trains on an outdoor platform with the wind and snow swirling and if the connecting train was late, it could get quite cold. Once I got off in Astoria, there was a seven or eight block slog to school. Oh, and the Christian Brothers didn’t give a damn if you were late. “But brother the snow”, “You should have left earlier.”

Once during Easter vacation, we had a storm. My cousin Lou came to fill up our oil tank and asked me if I wanted to work on the truck. Sure! Little did I know that I was going to be humping the hose to the houses while he kept an eye on things from the cab. But it was great fun and I made a few bucks and in the summer he hired me to help clean oil burners. 

Throughout my working years at Chemical and Chase bank in NYC, there was no such thing as a snow day. I worked in Money Transfer. You had to get there. And some how I always did.

Now in retirement, I can look at the window and marvel at the whiteness of the snow, well for at least a day. Hope that Mike comes and plows the sidewalk and the town plow doesn’t pile snow in my driveway. I’m not so worried about milk and bread, but I do check the wine supply.