Super Snowy Weekend
Monday, February 8th, 2010
It’s sad how one’s perception of snow changes as one gets older. As a kid I delighted in those rare times when we had major snowstorms. Not only would school be closed, but we could go out and play. One time I came home and my mom asked me where my other boot was. I looked down and realized one of my feet was uncovered. My feet were so cold I didn’t even feel it. A week later when the snow melted, there was my bright red boot, snagged on the branch of a bush.
Now I look at snow as a pain in my butt — digging out the car, worrying about getting in an accident, etc. With my bad knee, I feel particularly vulnerable walking to and from my car. When you live near the ocean snowstorms aren’t the norm, they are the exception. Usually the ocean temps keep the snow at bay.
Well, the winter of 2009-2010 has been one for the record books. We’ve had two major snowstorms already with another on the way. I live in Somers Point and I woke up at 6am Saturday morning to discover our power was out. I have a built-in power outage alarm. I sleep with a bi-pap machine. When the power went out my machine turned off. Instead of providing air, my mask was filling with the carbon dioxide I was exhaling — that will wake you up right quick. My mom and I scrambled to find flashlights, candles and a radio. I was bummed that we couldn’t watch the news, and that we might be stuck playing cards or that I’d have to work on organizing my paperwork.
We didn’t have to worry about food prep since we have a gas stove. Making homemade pizza for breakfast brought back a little of the childhood fun of waiting out the storm.
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I had a chance to talk with Jay P. Richardson, the son of the Big Bopper, last Wednesday. He was calling from southern Texas, where it was 80 degrees. He wondered if the weather would be cold when he arrived to perform March 6-8 since he was bringing his wife along. I admitted that it was cold and that March was generally the worst month for bad weather in southern New Jersey. Boy was I right!