I'm a Chicago girl. I remember walking home in three feet of snow during the great blizzard of 1967 – in the days when we had to wear skirts to school – in the days before doppler radar.
After plunging my legs over and over again through snow banks so deep I had to bring them up practically to my shoulders to move them, I came home completely exhausted. What normally took only 20 minutes to walk home at a slow leisurely pace took me more than an hour.
By the time I got home, my feet had swollen so much, I couldn't remove my boots, and I had frostbite on both my hands and my feet. I was wheezing with an asthma attack so bad I couldn't catch my breath.
Yes, Chicago girls KNOW what REAL snow storms are.
So imagine my surprise when I came out to Virginia to help my son and his wife with their kids, and on Tuesday this week, schools closed because they EXPECTED snow. The snow didn't come until nearly 8pm. The following day, Virginia schools closed again because they EXPECTED snow. Guess what. No snow at all, but Taylor got to stay home from school again anyway. All I kept thinking of Virginians was, what wimps!
Seems the entire state of Virgina and Washington, D.C. shut down when snow is expected. So when weather forecasters predicted a snow storm for tonight and tomorrow, I laughed. Apparently a sprinkling of snow is all it takes to send these people inside.
Well, that was my thinking until Southwest Airlines called to cancel my flight on Saturday. Hmm, maybe Virginia will actually be getting snow after all. According to weather.com, we're expecting a SIGNIFICANT amount of snow. That's what I get for calling Virginians wimps.
Hey, Theresa, thought I'd check your blog & this is great! You know, we lived in VA for 5 yrs (1975-1980), but we happened to be there in Reston for that blizzard of Jan '79, I think it was. We woke up to 3 feet of snow! Whoa!!! But I don't think you're going to get anything like that this time. Growing up in Chicago, you may have had more snow than we do in southern IN, but we had our share! I related to the part abt walking home from school in DRESSES, on frigid days. Your experience was horrendous! I remember well how chafed & painful my legs got trudging home in temps close to zero on occasion! That rule abt no pants for girls was not just insane, but cruel. As a little kid, we wore cumbersome, but warm, leggings. But you know how it is in high school. Life would become unbearable if you dressed "sensibly"! Well, as much as people often wax nostalgic abt the past, there are plenty of things I'd never go back to! You hit on one of them, big-time, girlfriend! Hope you enjoy your extra time w/ your grandkids stuck at home "expecting snow". : ) Allene
ReplyDeleteI am enjoying you blog very much, I sense a kindred spirit even with the age gap, but then I think I am only as old as I feel so today I'm just a pup. Tomorrow? Well we'll see..
ReplyDeleteRhea Riddle
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