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Monday, January 31, 2011

Bye Bye January, Bring it On February!

As the eve of the last day of January winds down, we are getting a whopper of a storm.
It has began. It is sleeting now. We expect 1.5" of ice, then 4-6 inches of snow. That is where I live. Just an hour north, my daughters are anticipating up to 10" of snow on top of the ice.
My dogs were a bit confused as we walked outside. They look at me as if, "what the heck Mom?" What is THIS?" I tell them to hurry up, take care of our business & they can go back inside a warm dry house with cozy beds & fun toys in just a few.

I can't help but be reminded of the Blizzard of '78 . Click the link for amazing detail of the largest storm to hit our city. Closing not only the Airport, schools and business, but all Indiana State Roads.
Indianapolis 1/28/1978


We all have a story of that Blizzard. I was only 15 so to me, I didn't worry, like my parents. I thought it was an absolute winter wonderland with fabulous fun memories of my neighborhood friends having fun. The snow drifts reached the rooftops of many of the homes. The crazy brave boys and a few girls (not me) jumped off the roofs into the snow. We kids went door to door through our neighborhood to see who needed what and to get everyone to chip in. We took sleds to a nearby Lender's Shop for necessities we could get for the neighbors. All my photographs are sealed in my memory. I didn't have a loaded camera that day. These I found on file. But they are exactly as I remember it. The Blizzard shut down our city for a week.
this is how most of us saw our homes
To date, we haven't had such a storm since. A few they were intense, but no Blizzard of '78. I wonder if tonight will bring on the same force. My girls are just hoping for cancelled classes but doubt it will happen. I don't know, already several universities are closing and Anderson University is only 20 miles from them. I am thinking they will have a "snow day".

This time I have my camera ready.

To all my blogging buddies out there also expecting to be hit by this storm, I say, stay warm and safe. I rather not read of any of you busting you bum on the ice. Let's pray it's cold enough for this ice to be snow, as we would rather have 10" of snow than 1.5" of ice. The ice is the killer, especially on the streets. So, take care!
FYI~ to those of you that haven't had to deal with this kind of weather, if we do have this bad ice storm, it is highly likely many of us will lose power, thus, no INTERNET.... Now that can be serious for some of us Bloggettes!
Love to you all~
Sweet Dreams & Hope to chat tomorrow♥

13 comments:

AmyAmyAmy said...

I got my driver's license during the blizzard of '78. I'm a very good driver. So much fun during that storm!

Mark Pressley said...

Amy you sell that to your kids, I was in the car with you doing a few party favors and you thought it would be a good idea to drive down 116th in the wrong lane.

janis said...

Ha Ha! Well, I can remember Amy getting me home a few times! I remember her being a good driver :)

Linda said...

It's funny but I remember so many, many huge snowstorms, growing up in the Chicago area, that none of them in particular really stick out to me except one in late 1980s when my Dad was still working at the U of I/Chicago and we drove together and we left early because it was so bad and we decided to stop for gas along Damen Avenue, just before getting to I-55 (Stevenson Expressway) and good thing we stopped for that gas.... because when we finally made it to the interstate, we couldn't believe our eyes. There were no lanes whatsover. It was just one big white tundra of deep snow. It took us 4 hours to get home that evening. It was the Valentine's Day snowstorm, and funny we've had other big storms on Valentine's Day since then. Those are the storms I remember most.

I'm staying put at home the next two days, as is Jim. Sarah's school hasn't cancelled just yet but almost all others in the area have. I know she's hopeful, and funny - so am I. I still love the excitement of a really big snowstorm - so long as it's not ice, as you mentioned.

Stay safe and warm, my friend. :)
Love, Linda

ellen abbott said...

stay warm!

Darcel @The Mahogany Way said...

Love the pink sprinkles on your blog when I move the mouse. How cute!
That was a lot of snow. I've seen a few doozies, but nothing like that. Can you believe we get snow here in VA Beach?

I hope you don't get hit too hard. Stay safe and warm.

Reality Jayne said...

I remember in that snow of 78, playing on the drifts down the neighborhood street and we were looking down on the cars as if we were up on a building......we walked right onto the roof of the house.

janis said...

Linda~ the Big Valentine Storm in 1988, I was working at the Indiana School for the Deaf. It was very exciting & a bit frightening to us. It was right before I became pregnant with Emily, & I remember Sergio & I driving around just us two, taking pictures.
You stay safe too!
Ellen~ Thanks to our new gas furnace, I will (just in time I might add!).
Darcel~ Hi There! Thank you, there is a link or actually I couldnt link it so I think I put the website up to get the sprinkles, or snow or whatever you like. I like sparkly things♥ Keep that precious family of yours warm & safe!
Ms Queen~ It was awesome, wasnt it? Im glad I was at the age I was to appreciate, no make that, LOVE it so!

AmyAmyAmy said...

Mark - you will always be safer with me than I am with you. Don't you mean 16th St? How many lanes were there?

Tina said...

I've read about several of my blogger friends expecting this bad storm. Here is S. Arkansas, we are just expecting severe thunderstorms...for us, that can be bad too. Of course, I'd rather have the snow.
Stay safe and keep warm!

Anonymous said...

Oooh just reading your post makes me feel cold janis!!
Keep cosy!!
Love Em xxxxx

Mark Pressley said...

Amy, you may be right I just remember being blurry in the passanger seat of your Green car and you saying "I have always wanted to drive in the wrong lane" and you did.

Scott said...

Ok, so I'm a little late on commenting, but what the heck. Like you, the blizzard was more fun than anything for me. I remember going out in the "heat" of the storm just to say I was out in a blizzard. I struggled walking against the wind and made it only to the end of the street and back.

The next morning I woke up, looked out my window and it felt as though my house had sank. Ground level was now almost even with my window! It was so surreal. After breakfast the work began. I went out and started shoveling snow. I cleared a spot in the yard for the dogs, and a path to the trash barrel since we still burned our trash in those days. Next came the walks and drive. It was a short drive, but the drifts were over the tops of the cars. Next, I joined the next door neighbor and we cleaned his drive. Dad had joined me at this point, and we then headed across the street to dig that neighbor out since he had heart trouble. Then we all joined forces and started on the street. The snow was so deep and there was no way anyone was getting out if we didn't take action. I remember that by the time we reached the corner, the snow was about 3 feet deep in the street. From there, I went down to another neighbor to help her dig out. As soon as I showed up, she put her shovel against the house and told me to tell her when I was done. I can't imagine how much snow we moved that day. It would kill me now, but I was a strapping 16 year old (a couple months shy, anyway) so I could handle it then.

Later I decided to take a walk. I was walking near the end of the street when I noticed something by my feet. I looked down and realized it was the top of a Volkswagen buried by the drifted snow. I couldn't believe it.

I didn't got to ask any neighbors, but I do remember walking to a store at 10th and Arlington. Arlington's only traffic was a line of people pulling their sleds to the store. I only remember buying powdered milk because we were out of our milk and the store shelves were empty. It was horrible, but it was all we had at the time. Later, I even managed to struggle through the drifts and take a much longer walk. My goal was probably Ellenberger. I don't remember if I made it or not. I do remember being over near school 88, but I can't remember beyond that.

I still remember seeing Mayor Hudnut in his Indiana Racers stocking cap giving interviews at the news station, where employees were sort of trapped. Like I said at the beginning, it was surreal, but for us it was actually enjoyable. I doubt I'll see a storm here to match it, although to listen to local news stations, you would think every storm is a blizzard.