Sunday, January 30, 2011

Sooooo............snow?? 18 possible inches in Chicago?? hmmmm.....nah, it ain't 1967, THAT was some snow....

So, I'm sitting here wearing my fingers down working on a TON of Wanda Jackson tunes.  All of the news is starting to come in with the warnings of the huge storms predicted for the next couple of days. They're now saying that possibly 18 inches may hit Chicago. Facebook's a-buzzin'. Now here in Chicago, we know how winter works. We aren't South of the Mason-Dixon Line, buying every loaf of bread and bottle of milk in an 18 mile radius  if an inch of snow falls.  The same can definitely be said for Michigan, where I grew up....we REALLY know our winters, much more than Chicagoans.  At least Michiganders know how to drive in it. I can't say that for the average Chicago resident.....pathetic driving, even in pleasant weather, hereabouts.

Anyway, it got me thinking about the years of some REAL snowstorms....1979, 1999............1967.  Wow, the big snow of '67. Now THAT was a storm.
I wish I had a few of the pictures that my dad took in Flint, Michigan. We have some great ones.  I was 4 1/2 years old.  It's significant enough that I actually remember a lot of it. I remember thinking that it was pretty damned great, although my parents don't recall it quite that way. I loved seeing all the snowshoes, skis, and snowmobiles as the main transportation in my neighborhood....there really wasn't any other way to get around for quite awhile. I don't remember any cars being dug out from garages for many days. I recall that we totalled out a fair bit higher than in Chicago, which was paralyzed.  I think we got nearly 30 inches, with high winds, and drifts over 10 feet high.

I'm not getting too worked up about the next couple of days. Time will tell.  I'm a little too jaded to think that any storm will measure up to the ones in my memories.  The adult in me thinks that a big one will be a major hassle.......secretly, though.....the eternal child in me wants an EPIC one :)  Mostly, I just want my kid to be able to say she remembers 'one for the history books' someday. (not to mention a historic, almost never called 'snow day' for Chicago and Evanston schools).  As she just said: "Mom, we'll have school.....the apocalypse could happen....if you're Catholic you'll still have school open in Chicago".

So 1967. A little trip back in time:


Yeah...it was that bad in Chicago. We had even more in Michigan.  So you see, I'm not even getting excited, yet.  Time will tell. :)
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19 comments:

  1. dJanuary 30, 2011 at 9:15 PM

    We ain't had nuffinks loik we used to get when I was younger here in Guelph in the past few years.
    Guelph was always considered to be on the edge of the snowbelt here so we got got feet rather than inches when it really snored.

    It's been years (literally) since we have had that sort of snow storm here. We too are getting the usual warning about the next couple of days. No one in town (a local anyhow) ever pays those warnings any heed anymore.

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  2. blueboyJanuary 30, 2011 at 9:23 PM

    Hi Barberella, I've been trying to download part
    1 of the Mary Lou Williams list but it just isn't happening. It takes forever to download
    (when it works) and then it won't unzip , very
    frustrating. Could you check the link please.

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  3. barberellaJanuary 30, 2011 at 10:29 PM

    Certainly. That list was quite awhile ago, so I'm not sure how long it's been since the last d/l. I'm working on getting the 1st part of the Wanda Jackson list up, but I'll go in and check MLW. I'll get back with you on it as soon as I can find out what's up.

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  4. CW CobaltJanuary 30, 2011 at 10:41 PM

    I live in NJ but most of the folks who report to me work in Vernon Hills and Downtown in Riverside. So not only are you turning me on to a lot of music I've never heard, but you gave me a weather report so I can plan our day -- which will probably be to let the gang work from home...something not possible in 1967!! HAH ! You now officially have my vote for favorite blog of the decade.

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  5. barberellaJanuary 30, 2011 at 10:42 PM

    I'm downloading it on my computer from 4shared now....it's a large file, granted, but it seems to be downloading quite slow for me, also (like 40KB/sec...slow). I'll see how it works. I can get another copy up tomorrow, if it doesn't open for me, k?

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  6. barberellaJanuary 30, 2011 at 11:05 PM

    Well, it certainly hasn't started yet! They say Monday late, on through Wednesday...lol. No Monday off, kiddies...Mush, Mush (maybe that wasn't the right choice of words...sounds like sled dogs!!). That's me...the anachronistic weather blog!! Thanks for the major compliment, btw :)

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  7. barberellaJanuary 30, 2011 at 11:18 PM

    Hey, Pahprint, you are sooo right!! It's like that old saying, "you know you grew up in Northern Michigan (I've heard it as Canada, too) if your mom made your Halloween costume super XL, just to fit over your snowmobile suit" ;) Oh, how times have changed. We did the old door-to-door in short sleeves this past October :0

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  8. barberellaJanuary 30, 2011 at 11:24 PM

    You know, I seriously doubt that anyone here has a pair of snowshoes in their attic, just for the bad ones. I have some very functional old wood ones, I don't think I've even used 'em since the spring storm of '99.....maybe I'll get to dust them off and put 'em to work. I kinda hope so :)

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  9. ElkeJanuary 30, 2011 at 11:56 PM

    in Winnipeg we get lots of snow... in the 80s we had a blizzard. I don't know if it was cabin fever or what, but in the middle of that storm I walked from my apartment to the house of friends miles away... I was young and foolish then... I'm just foolish now :) Boy were they surprised to see me standing on their stoop... We ended up having a three day slumber party...

    When I think of it now, I was lucky that I survived the walk, that my friends were gracious enough to let me crash at their place and that I finally made it back home (had to walk home :) ... )

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  10. barberellaJanuary 31, 2011 at 12:10 AM

    Hey, Blueboy....that file is still downloading :0 AND, uploading failed on 4shared. Hmmm...maybe a problem with 4shared? I don't know. Getting a tad late, here (midnightish). I might had to go back in tomorrow morning and test it again, both on the UL and the DL. :( sorry.

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  11. barberellaJanuary 31, 2011 at 12:19 AM

    Ahhh, out there in MB....I've seen that. Ya know, having been there, and south of there in the states (Minnesota, and North Dakota)....Those plains areas get fierce in the winter. No trees much, and all that flat land. Chilly, chilly, and snowy. A different kind of cold and snow, to me, than farther east in Michigan. I don't know, maybe it just seems drier, or something, being landlocked and not as near to a lot of the lakes, like we are.

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  12. barberellaJanuary 31, 2011 at 6:19 AM

    Hey, Blueboy, I'm just awake @ opened that MLW file....with no problem. The one I opened was:

    http://www.4shared.com/file/CDwKAAsH/maryl.html

    From the Aug, 12, 2010 post:

    http://planetbarberella.blogspot.com/2010/08/mary-lou-williamsa-labour-of-lovept1.html

    Is that the same one you were having probs with?

    I do know that 4shared would not let me easily up or download anything, last night....maybe better now? let me know. Thanks.

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  13. mister anchovyJanuary 31, 2011 at 12:01 PM

    We're due to get the snow up here in Toronto too. We don't get it near as bad as our friends in Buffalo do though, or in Barrie to the north of us. It all has to do with the location of the Niagara Escarpment I think, and Anchovy World Headquarters gets some moderating effects from Lake Ontario, a stones throw away.

    Now I noticed some comments from Winnipeg. Now those folks know how to do up winter right. They also have some of the biggest mosquitoes in the summer that I've ever seen.

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  14. barberellaJanuary 31, 2011 at 2:32 PM

    I've experienced those mosquitoes first hand. They nearly carried away the then 14 month old Sarah, somewhere along 17 driving west toward Thunder Bay. Between hitting a moose with the van one foggy night, and experiencing the billions of newly hatched fish flies on the banks of Lake Winnipeg, 'twas was quite the unusual mid-summer vacation. I still have the industrial-sized container of bug repellent, printed entirely in French with a smiling, brawny man wearing a toque on it :0

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  15. AnonymousFebruary 1, 2011 at 11:40 AM

    Up here in Canada, we know all about snow (although with climate change happening it's not close to what we experienced when I was growing up.) I've added a link to Planet Barberella on my blog because I like what you're doing here. Marie

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  16. barberellaFebruary 1, 2011 at 2:59 PM

    Thanks, Marie! I do agree on the climate change bit. Nothing like when I was growing up in Michigan. I talked to a couple of relatives this morning , one in Winnipeg and another in Wallaceburg, Ontario, about the weather. It looks like Southwestern Ontario will be getting some of this snow, too. All of us agreed on the fact that we tend to be a bit jaded about all these warnings.....somehow everyone doubts it will be anything like the storms of our childhoods :)

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  17. barberellaFebruary 1, 2011 at 3:01 PM

    Btw, Marie, if you want, I'll link to you on here, also. :)

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  18. AnonymousFebruary 2, 2011 at 1:28 AM

    Thanks, Barberella - that would be great! This is the address:

    http://catchthattrainandtestify.blogspot.com/

    Until I can pay to increase my bandwidth, it's temporarily just listening. It's only the first day of the month and it's already at 30 percent. I hope you like the Train. Marie

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  19. barberellaFebruary 2, 2011 at 11:27 AM

    Nice site! I was just over there.... :) I linked to you on mine

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