The Blizzard of '78

Lived through it. My brother was in a house on the water in Marshfield. They huddled in the only room left, the kitchen, for two days.

I was a youngster and awoke to my father telling me he needed me. He couldn't get out of the house because of the snow drift. he lowered me out a window and I belly slid across the snow to the front door and removed it with a dust pan.

I was there -- our campus was swamped with snow and for us it was fun.

Then we saw what happened to the coastal people.

Did you see that anchor cut DuKakis off and the look the Dukakis gave him? LOL that fucking "I'm one of you" sweaters.

it was fun as a kid...except that we had to shovel the street so emergency vehicles could get by.

It is because of this blizzard, I keep a sleeping bag and blanket in the trunk of my car.

And how dare they interrupt Bobby Vinton!!!

Which campus, r2? About five minutes into my 3pm class, I absentmindedly looked out the window and saw it was beginning to snow. I could see my dorm and even my room window from the classroom. I went back to taking notes. Around 20 minutes later it was really coming down and the wind had picked up. By the end of the class I couldn't see my dorm that was maybe 300 yards away. A ten-minute walk took a half hour. I almost died later that eveninh when a snow plow came up behind me. I was bundled up and it was difficult to hear. Anyway, it was ten feet behind me when I heard it and I jumped to the side. I was up to my chest in snow and the plow dumped even more on me. I didn't see my car again until mid-April.

Were you at Harvard, r6? I saw photos of Harvard and its missing first and second floors with the 30 ft drifts in the street.

Ha, no r7. I'm not that bright or connected. University of Connecticut

We had an orgy in one of the squash courts, with the lights off, candles and incense in the corner, and pillows and blankets. Men and women and I sucked my first cock.

Connecticut got the ice along with the snow. I lived out by UCONN. I was in fifth grade at the time. I still vividly remember how beautiful it was. How everything outside looked like it was made of glass.

CPTV did a great doc on the blizzard a few years ago, with perfect narration by Bill Kurtis. I was six, and a friend from kindergarten had slept over. He couldn't go home for many days. We lost power for I think a week. It was incredibly beautiful in a way, but we were very happy for it to be over. The only storm in my mind that rivals it was Storm Alfred in 2011. We lost power for 11 days. II days. Trees down everywhere from the wet heavy snow. I ended up at my parents house because I didn't have heat or a generator. Nobody did at that time, but they had a wood stove. 5 adults and 4 children and various animals in a smallish house for 11 days was excruciating. And of course, I had to get to work after the first few days, once the streets were plowed. Got to love New England weather.

For anyone that doesn't know, and I'd imagine many don't, Ella Grasso was CT's governor at the time, to explain R10's picture.

Ella was the shit. If not for the cancer she very well could have been the first female president.

After watching that CPTV doc, she seemed like a real force of nature, R13. I mean walking to the Capital during the storm and then manning an outpost? She really must have been a presence.Reportedly, CT was miles ahead in terms of cleanup after the storm than other states because of her persistence. I just looked up, there is a biography of her on Amazon. Gonna have to read it.

CT native here, people still talk about Ella Grasso to this day. She was universally respected. And I agree, if she didn't get cancer she very well could've gone even further.

I wasn't born yet, but my parents often talk about the Blizzard of 78. People were stranded in their houses for days. It was awful, according to them.

She was a hell of a lady and took no shit. She signed her resignation about five minutes before she died. She was a great lady and very much loved. She loved her state. I loved that it was still a time though when she was always called Mrs. Grasso.

Did you know her, R16?

I was younger but my parents knew her in a nonpolitical way. My father had been nearly lifelong friends with her and my mother was a Dr. where she got most of her treatment. She made sure "Mrs. Grasso" always had a friend nearby and not just political operatives.

I don't know. There's something so comforting about this video. Like disasters could happen back then but it wasn't the end of civilization as we know it. We would be trapped in a house without smart phones and computers and cable TV and still find stuff to do.

I wasn't alive then, and yet I still miss these times.

Forgot to post the link!

Oh! Hi 2015 troll!

How is deplorablville?

I was a sophomore at WMU in Kalamazoo, MI. We had the lake effect from Lake Michigan and the university was closed for a week. I had to walk to work and it was scary.

I lived in Connecticut near the shore. I made an obscene amount of money immediately after the storm, digging cars out, and such.

My Mom, I’ll refer to her Barbara Smith, knew the Honorable Ella, Governor Grasso, and helped her first win the governorship. At some point, there was a picture of them together with another long term politician. The photo was printed in the local papers, and it identified the two politicians in the photo, but said nothing about my mother in the photo. Soon thereafter, the Governor sent a copy of the photo to my mother, with this in sharpie on it, “Who’s this with Barbara Smith.”

The whole winter was just so cold in NY. So frigid, for so many days. The snow, when plowed, reached above people's heads. Sidewalks were like tunnels.

I couldn't take it anymore and in the spring, I moved to LA.