January 26, 2015

Weather or Whether Not

In these parts the topic of weather is oh so important.  In fact, without the ever changing climes that we so often experience here on the prairie, I fear that most people would turn into anti-social introverts who have lost the ability to interact on the simplest level with their fellow humans.

Recent reminiscences of the famed blizzard of 1975 have cropped up in honor of the 40-year anniversary of that storm that raged for days, stranded countless travelers, country folk and city dwellers.  As with any milestone occurrence, most everyone has some recollection of that (and others like it) storm if you were around at the time.

I recall that, as the storm raged in my neighborhood, our family housed my friend who lived across the street whose parents were unable to make it home as well as a good family friend and much loved artist in these parts, Bob Artley.  

Artley worked with my dad at the newspaper at the time and couldn't make the drive to his home in Adrian so took up refuge in our house.  He used one of my sketch books to draw pictures of us all and encouraged us to draw some of our own.  I recently came across that very same book while going through papers at mom and dad's house last weekend and the memories flooded back like the snow on a north wind gale.  

One of the sketches pictured three figures pushing a little Volkswagen beetle through the snow blowing on a horizontal angle.  They soon abandoned that task and left the bug to fend for itself while the storm raged.  When it had all settled, we found the little car completely filled with hard packed snow.

I can't say that the entire experience was all that painful.  We had plenty to eat, lots to do and there was never a dull moment whatsoever.  I know that mom read aloud to us from a favorite book, and there were jig saw puzzles involved and good conversation flowed freely.  I guess you could say that I have some pretty fair memories of that particular storm, and many others like it.  And I, to this day, love a good ol' blizzard.

But there have been winters, such as this one, that provide very little in the area of snowbound entertainment.  Murray County native, Oscar Swan, who in 1987 was touted as the self proclaimed "weatherman in Balaton", recalled that the winter of 1931 was particularly light on the snow front, though a terrific snow storm came up on election day, November 8, 1932 when Franklin Roosevelt was elected President.

The winter of 1936 was a particularly rough one in these parts, according to Swan.  "Real winter set in on January 20th and all through February," he said.  "For 41 days it never got above zero; 38 below was the lowest and 101 inches of snow fell that winter."

The State had rotary snow blowers at that time, Swan noted, and the snow was so deep on highway 14 east of Balaton that they had men on top of the drifts breaking it down so the plow could make it through.  

It stormed and drifted so bad for weeks all cars and trucks were at a stand still," Swan went on.  "Duluth did not have any snow that winter and the state sent down two plows to help."

In essence, life without daily commentary and speculate about the weather would be rather droll and drab.  After all, doesn't everyone fancy themselves weather prognosticators?   I guess it's anyone's guess what tomorrow's weather will be like - rain or sun, snow or sleet.  One thing's for certain, there's not a one of us who can change the outcome so we  just have to learn to grin and bear it. 

And talk about it.