Blizzard
I was born in Charleston, SC where my dad was stationed during WW II. After the war we returned to my folks’ native New York where they bought a house on the GI bill. (See Parkchester, Celebrate Me Home, Magnolia, The Story of a Garden, and Mr Bucco and the Ginger Cat)
And so it was during the great northeast blizzard of December 1947 that I saw snow for the first time.
The storm was unpredicted, it broke weather records, and wreaked havoc on the New York transportation system as trains were delayed for hours, cars and buses were stranded on city streets, and 25 inches of snow fell on Central Park.
The blizzard caused 77 fatalities and cost the city millions of dollars, but I was surely oblivious to all that.
At age 3 all I knew was that the roads in our neighborhood were unplowed and closed to traffic, and my father – in his furry earmuffs, his long coat, and his big rubber boots – could pull me on my sled up and down the middle of our snowy street!
– Dana Susan Lehrman
Dana Susan LehrmanThis retired librarian loves big city bustle and cozy country weekends, friends and family, good books and theatre, movies and jazz, travel, tennis, Yankee baseball, and writing about life as she sees it on her blog World Thru Brown Eyes!
www.WorldThruBrownEyes.com
What an introduction to snow! But at age 3, it sounds like you must have had lots of fun being pulled on a sled. Children love snow! They don’t even realize when they are cold. It is just pure fun.
Yes Betsy, and the joy of my father pulling me down the street!
What a delightful memory of a great snowy day, Dana. Kids never cease to be delighted by snowfalls. I guess they don’t have to worry about getting to work or buying food, so there’s nothing more fun than a snow day that closes school.
Thanx Laurie, my dad pulling my sled down the middle of our street is among my earliest memories!
I remember feeling so excited that I was allowed to play where I was usually forbidden to set foot without a grownup. Ah, such innocent bliss!
That memory from age three surely is one of your earliest ones, and why not a transformative snowstorm? Weather predicting has really improved since then, with all the satellites, computer modelling, and communications. We have lots of extreme weather events in the wings and will appreciate any help we can get to prepare. BTW—check out images from the underwater volcano that erupted today in Tonga!
Thanx Khati, I just read about the Tonga volcano, Mother Nature not always our friend!
Love this story, Dana. What a perfect memory to have, your father tromping up and down the street pulling your sled!
Thanx Suzy, it was certainly among my earliest memories, and I remember the excitement of being able to play in the middle of the street – usually forbidden territory for a 3 year-old!
A fun tale! A snowy New York always makes me think of old Currier & Ives prints.
Thanx Dave, the city does look great in the snow – until it turns to slush!
Although this blizzard was before my time, it’s touching how for so many of us our pleasant memories include sledding down a street normally reserved for cars. Thanks for adding this memory.
Thanx Marian, I was only 3 and this was certainly one of my earliest memories!
For an incident to be memorable one needs a good memory.
Yes indeed Kevin!
Thanks for re-posting this fun memory of dads and sleds and the wonder of snow unencumbered by adult worries.
Thanx Khati, I loved rereading it too!
What a wonderful early memory! My age three memory is confined to my stay in a hospital when I had my tonsillectomy. I would gladly trade for your snowy day. And your sled photo reminds me of Rosebud.
Thanx Dale, it was a better memory than your hospital stay!
It is great to be reminded of the beauty and pleasure of snow for a father and three-year-old on the sled while shoveling out four feet of snow in minus 10 degrees wind chill. During the worst, one needs to remember the best.
Yes indeed Richard!