It was a dark and stormy night. I always wanted to start a column with those words but could never really get them to fit my topics. I think they’ll work with this column.
I realize that the most recent winter storm has come and gone and the snow itself has come and gone, but it is still winter and we’ll probably get at least one more snow storm before spring. With that being said, I want to relate a snow storm experience from years gone by.
As I recall it was about the middle of February in 1991. Our family was living in a small subdivision located just outside the little village of North Hampton in Clark County. My sister and her husband lived about 25 miles north in Logan County. We hadn’t seen much of them because of our busy work schedules and the distance between our homes, so we made plans. On a Saturday afternoon, we would drive to their house and head up to Indian Lake for pizza and a little shopping at Walmart. (That was when Walmart stores were very few and far between).
We noticed that the snow was beginning to fall as we made our way to their house, but hey, it was February. (This was also before weather advisory’s and warnings were issued as breaking news).
By the time we left their home and headed north the snow was accumulating. My sister and I are married to “real men” who refuse to let a few snowflakes stop them from going out for pizza and so our journey continued. When we arrived at the restaurant we sort of had the place to ourselves. That’s a good thing because you get specialized customer service.
When we left the pizza joint there was about five inches on the ground and we should have got on the road back home, but did we? No, we opted to trek another 10 miles or so to go shopping as planned. The car was slipping and sliding, we could barely see where we were going and my brother-in-law missed a couple turns having to back up and turn around, not an easy task in eight inches of snow. After the long arduous journey to Walmart we discovered that, due to the inclement weather, they were closed.
At this point we were pulled over by a very nice State Highway Patrolman who informed us that the roads were off-limits. Everyone was being advised to not go out unless absolutely necessary. Needless to say, we apologized to the nice officer and told him we would go directly home. Our little adventure ended when we pulled into my sister’s driveway which by now was covered in 10 inches of snow. Although my husband did his best to assure me that we could make it home safely, I finally convinced him that we should spend the night and head home in the daylight.
When the snow started coming down two weeks ago, I called my sister and asked if they would like to meet us somewhere for pizza. (They live more than 100 miles from us now.) They declined but we had a good laugh and some old memories resurfaced. Oh, to be young and fearless again.