Blizzaster!

Spending January and February in Prescott was a premeditated plan to avoid the worst of winter in Chicago. I didn’t count on missing the third biggest blizzard on record, which occurred earlier this week. The city and some its outlying areas got 20+ inches of snow, blasted in by hurricane-force gusts and impressive sustained winds. Officials closed Lake Shore Drive, and snow drifts stranded hundreds of motorists. Some were rescued by paramedics on snowmobiles! St Joseph’s Hospital became an overnight refuge for over a hundred commuters who couldn’t make it home.

Our relatives in the northern suburb of Wadsworth lost power for 6 hours overnight. They couldn’t make it to work in the morning, and spent three hours with a snow blower, clearing their driveway. Of course, the streets are still blocked by 4-foot drifts, but hopefully the snow plows have made it there by now. (Ron’s brother, Ken, in his driveway pictured below.)


Photo by Joy Bailey

We missed all the excitement! It would have been fun to hole up in our cozy condo with a hot toddy, watching the snow rage sideways down our street, and eating comfort food. Our building is a 1920’s-era fortress, and we have a gas fireplace, so we would have been safe and warm. The association has a contract with a service that shovels our walks and stairs, so we wouldn’t even have had to worry about that. And now I can’t brag that I survived Chicago’s Blizzard of 2011, AKA, “Bizzaster”, “Snowmageddon”, “Snowcopalypse”, etc.

It was fun to see the photos people posted on Facebook, and we were glad to get the messages that our friends and family members were safe. We got some effect from that same weather front in Prescott. Yesterday was nasty; a cold and windy day. But by the end of the week, we should be able to golf. That day is distant in Chicago.