Snowflake Fever

Today in Oregon, we got what from what I understand people who are from here call snow,  it looked like this.  I am not knocking people who live in Salem, they don't get much snow. I have lived in Texas also and there is another state that goes into complete chaos and shuts down when it snows.  I am used to growing up in snow, I also had a dad who had snowflake fever even though he had lived in Cincinnati his entire life.  People from Cincinnati have it to and we made fun of them ( all in good fun).

 News of possible snow would hit the airwaves and people would flock to the grocery store like the world was ending and clear out the bread & milk.

When I was 7, Cincinnati had the Blizzard of 78, the city was at a standstill for weeks, temps in the below 10-20 degrees.  This people is cause for panic.

I am used to freezing cold temps, snow & ice, I don't like it and that is why I like living in Salem, Oregon.

Just some facts about cold weather I am used to. I am not sure you all really care, but I have a point, I promise.

The AFC football championship game at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati Sunday, Jan. 10, 1982, was aptly nicknamed the "Freezer Bowl." Some Bengals played with bare arms in beating the San Diego Chargers, 27-7. It was 9 below at kickoff with the wind chill 59 below. The day’s high was minus one in downtown Cincinnati, and an official high of minus 4 at the airport in Kentucky. The official low there was 14 below zero. The "Freezer Bowl" remains the second coldest game in National Football League history.

 

February 25, 1993 Kyle was born and it started to snow alot. Hospitals and pregnant people panicked.  The hospitals were jammed pack full with people, not in labor, like me, but people who were afraid they would be and would be unable to get to the hospital so they all just showed up and took up space. After Kyle was born, everyone took off in fear of getting stuck at the hospital so there Kyle and I were all alone  except for all the crazy people who were just waiting "in case".

 

 1995-96 winter ranks No. 4

The 1995-96 winter -- No. 4 in snow total at 44.6 inches -- was disruptive, causing road closings, canceling church services and other activities, and forcing many businesses to shut down. Most school districts had exhausted their allotted five snow days by Jan. 12, 1996.

 

Sunday morning, Jan. 7, 1996, there was nearly two feet of snow in some places. Officially, 14.4 inches fell in Cincinnati Jan. 6-7. The 12.8 inches the night of Jan. 6-7 set a Cincinnati record for snowfall in a 24-hour period. Adding to the misery were two Ohio River floods within four months -- up to 57.3 feet Jan. 24 and 53.7 feet May 17, 1996.

 

Then in 2008 there was The North American blizzard that stretched from Arkansas to Quebec and made its way through Cincinnati on Regan's birthday.  Luckily her birthday party was not that weekend as the storm started the 6th and lasted several days.

There has been alot of snow, ice, storms in between but this may be why snow doesn't bother me much or I may come across inconsiderate when my staff calls to tell me they can come to work because of the snow.  I am not a slave driver and I do not want to put anyone at risk on the road, but after driving on the roads myself at 6:30 am, I was pretty sure no one was at risk, but we survived and made do. 

I don't like to drive in alot of snow and ice if I don't have to but I have always been the one to make it to work, there were always just a few us who always showed. It may have taken us 3 hours to get there, but we did. We always had our snow emergency kits in our car in case we got stuck and I remember driving in this type of weather in high school way before we ever had cell phones, some how we all still survived.  Hmmm I guess I really am from a different generation and that makes me feel really old.

 My dad on the other hand would not go to work , or drive and at the sight of a snowflake he would hunker down in the basement with the keg.  Pretty sure that is just one of the many reasons my parents are no longer married.

Since everyone else is staying home and hunkering down I guess that just gives me one more reason to catch up on laundry, some TV, enjoy the kids & a cocktail.  Stay warm, stay safe & cheers!