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Snow stories from the Blizzard of 2010
The snow began in Lowell yesterday at 3:30 pm. By 8 pm, about 4 inches had fallen. Throughout the night the wind was howling. At 5 am today, it looks like another 6 inches fell overnight. I’m heading out soon to clear the cars and the driveway and will report back later. In the meantime, please leave your storm-related comments and observations here.
Amazed at how wimpy we’ve become. TV shows preempted so we can watch plows move snow. California-fed talking heads leave a warm van, stand out in the wind and get our sympathy for having to stand out in a snowstorm for 2 minutes. I remember the days when all I’d see in the blizzard was the solitary figure of my father, climbing the hill coming home from work. Non-native governors have to tell us to be off the roads by a certain time, have we been so managed to death that we’ve lost our common sense? If you don’t want to venture out then don’t. The bank will be there tomorrow. If you need something, call a neighbor. We’ll help you out. Just don’t try to get your walk shoveled for two bucks. Today you might get hit with the shovel.
Happy that we didn’t suffer a power outage – only a “blown fuse” caused by our driveway light pole when moisture gets inside. At 10am very light sleet-like snow falling and blowing in North Tewksbury. Fiske Street is plowed to the pavement but a bit slushy. Car traffic is picking up.Neighbors out with their snow blowers since early morning. We had a middle-of-the night plowing of the driveway – expect a better clean-up later today. The tide has turned so-to-speak! Still better to stay at home inside! Seniors need to leave the shoveling to others. Loved to shovel when I was younger and in better shape… my mother loved to shovel – she was methodical with her own style!
ps – Glad we don’t live on the shore -the flooding is worse than the snow.
My daughters flight was canceled this morning. She cannot return to Montana, where she is volunteering on an Indian reservation, for a few more days. Her mother and I pretend we to are upset at her change of plans, however, we are glad to have her stay extended for a longer visit. Some good comes from the swirling, blowing snow!!
I love the snow, the more the better as far as I am concerned.
I took the pup for an hour-long walk along Pawtucket Blvd. at 6:30 this morning and was surprised at how clear the road was and how many cars were out. The path along the river was also partially cleared and the sidewalk on the other side of the street (from Heritage to Tyco) was too. The Dunks on the Blvd. was doing a brisk business.
I took a little break to shovel out the cars and eat breakfast and then the pup and I headed over to the Lowell-Dracut-Tyngsboro State Forest with the snowshoes. The Blvd. was completely clean and the secondary roads were in pretty good shape as well. I saw a lot of people shoveling/snowblowing on the way.
We were the only car in the forest lot and the first to travel our favorite trail, a 3.5 mile loop. The snow was deep and the wind was fierce coming off of Spruce Swamp, but flakes were flying in a true winter wonderland and the pup and I were in heaven.
The pup’s snoring beside me now and I’m wondering if we’ll be able to head to the other side of the forest for some more snowshoeing later today ;-)
Looked out the window at 3A.M. the plow had left a mound of snow in front of my driveway went downstairs had my usual first breakfast of O.J.,coffee and wheat toast started the car from my kitchen.Out to about ten inches of beautilful snow Oh. so nice then into the car and drove through the mound of snow onto the road past Fort Hill Park to collect Carlos at Hanks St.then to Superior Court.and later a compliment from Dick and Tony on the good job that Carlos had done on the snow.What a great day.
I expected 18 to 24 inches of white stuff on the ground when I looked out this morning, but was surprised to see Highland Street down to the black-top and much less on my driveway and in the yard than I feared. The McDonough family did everyone on Highland a favor by plowing the sidewalk from Gorham to Thorndike with an SUV-mounted blade. About six cars stayed on the short street overnight despite the parking ban, which made the plowing more difficult. The City needs a better way to inform people about the parking ban during storms. I don’t know why they don’t assume it’s on. The big school lot across the street is perfect for servicing Highland Street residents who live in apartments or condos that don’t have enough parking spaces. I’d say this storm has been memorable for the strong winds all day. As I write this, I can hear the gusts whipping and whistling through the trees and over the roofs.
Spent most of today at the MEMA facility in Tewksbury. It was a “just in case” liaison assignment that wound up making for a very easy, quiet day — no major emergencies or disasters in MEMA Region 1, save for some flooding in Gloucester.
The one actual Guard mission today was down in Scituate…the local authorities there have been dealing with floods and fires and needed Guardsmen to help with evacuations.
This morning I left for work at 7:40 and was pleased with the state of the roads in Lowell. Pine and then Westford were both down to bare pavement the entire way. It helped that no cars were on the road and I didn’t see a single snowed-in car parked along the way. So at least on the main routes in the Highlands, either the citizens heeded the parking ban or the police enforced it. (Tomorrow I’ll go for an early morning walk and report on compliance with the sidewalk shoveling ordinance).
As for being “hardy New Englanders”, that’s a label that’s undeserved these days. I think the 24/7 media world partly plays into it – after a day or two of snowmaggedon lead in stories, it’s understandable that people will expect the worst. Of course every so often, nature reminds us of its unpredictability and we get whacked and people are put at risk. Out of ten storms, however, that’s only the case with one while the other nine are completely tolerable to any rational individual.