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The worst snow storm ever (and I grew up partly in
Syracuse, so I know bad snow storms) but guys, this brings back a mind
picture that is one of the funniest of my life.
It was 1987 -- Stephen had just turned 7 months -- Sara was
in 1st grade at Grafton Elementary -- I had just gotten a high school
social studies teaching job at Berlin High (pronounced Burr- lynn (with
an emphasis on the Burrrrrr!) by the locals.
I was renting a brand new 2-bedroom mobile home on
"Maxwell (or Maxfield-I don't remember) mountain - located about 10
miles off Route 2, running east from Albany via Cropseyville (our
nearest town-basically a crossroads) through Grafton to nearly the Massachusetts
border and Burrrrlynn. Basically, there would never be any reason to
be on that road, as it went NOWHERE!
Michael, Stephen's father and my second X, had arrived
in New York just recently and, having grow up in Santa Fe [New Mexico],
was entranced by the beauty of upstate NY in the fall. However, he was
already starting to gripe about the cloudy skies. "Oh Katie, big
surprised," (he would say upon opening the curtains in the
morning), "It's cloudy, AGAIN!!!!" Like it was my fault!
He was also not amused by our [rural] neighbors and would read
the pretend-local paper...."For sale - two used sheep. Wanted - two
new sheep." (Later-he would tell his family-"They say there
are four seasons in New York, there are really only two -- WINTER and the
Fourth of July!).
Then the weather really turned bad REALLY BAD. It
snowed, and sleeted, and snowed, and snowed. The next morning we walked
out to a bright blue world of sparkling white.
Ice clung to everything - tree limbs - power lines
-house eaves - Diamonds everywhere! It was gorgeous!
Michael freaked
out! The power was out- our water which ran off an electric pump - was
out - the phone was out (there weren't cell phones in the 'old' days). The radio said that power lines, downed by ice, had
closed route 2!
NOW Mike really freaked out! He looked at Sara and me
and said, "How long will it take for the snow to melt? ...or when
will the snow plows get here?"
It was hysterical!!!!! We started rolling around in
the snow laughing...
But wait ...that's not the funniest part...
He just didn't understand. He had a brand new red
SAAB, and starting clearing the snow off the car and for about 3 feet
around. It was wonderful.
A few problems remained. Our driveway was about 100 yards
long (and we had no snow blower). Then, the dirt road we lived on was 10
miles from Route 2, which, if we ever got there, was close anyway.
So the bottom line was that the likelihood of a plow
reaching us in under a week was slim, real slim.
Picture this. Mike is standing next to his little red
sports car in the middle of a field of snow! It was PRICELESS -- again,
Sara and I stood there laughing, and I asked "So,
are you planning on having that air-lifted out of here?"
We melted snow for water and the propane ran the stove
which kept us from freezing. I was still nursing the baby and used cloth
diapers, but some kind neighbors turn up on snowmobiles bringing formula
and disposables.
Before the power came back, but as soon as the roads
opened, Aunt Shelly and Uncle Dan showed up with supplies and kisses.
They took the kids down to my mom in Schenectady until
we got real heat, and Mike and I got to know each other. [Turned out that was a big mistake - We DIDN'T like
each other! But that's another story.]
At any rate, I hope all is well for all the Larkins
everywhere. Just had to share this funny memory.
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