It’s the deep freeze out west and here in Ontario we’re getting record amounts of snow. At present, I am writing this report on an old laptop I used to use only for travel, because the good laptop up north crashed last week and with it our email and internet access. In speaking with our computer guru in Toronto, it is clear that this isn’t one of those problems he can walk us through over the phone. Last Wednesday, I was going to drive the machine down to him, but low and behold, there was a winter storm warning and predictions of seriously bad weather around and due south of us. I’ve driven through enough whiteouts and squalls to know I didn’t want to deal with that. We then had the brilliant idea to send the computer down to Toronto by Purolator, so I packed it up and left it at the designated location nearby for a Friday pick-up. Friday morning I got a call saying that the package was not picked up, because all deliveries were cancelled due to ANOTHER major storm. Apparently, the Town of Huntsville got walloped with around 80cm of snow and much of the town was closed, as were parts of Hwy 11, the main route down to Toronto. It’s very odd, because I’d been to Huntsville about five hours before this storm hit, and while there was snow on the ground from the last storm, there was no sign of the impending squall. When I was walking out of Shopper’s Humungous Drug Warehouse, I overheard two locals talking about the warnings of the imminent major snowstorm, and they were shrugging off the warnings as a “sky-is-falling” prediction. Guess they were mistaken. These storms are lake effect squalls or “streamers”, not unlike the lake effect storms I used to experience in Buffalo off Lake Erie. They set up over Georgian Bay and what is unusual about these storms is that they often travel in narrow bands. Huntsville and south to Gravenhurst were hit badly -- some places got over 100cm of snow -- and the storm extended east in a narrow band about 80-100 kilometers. 30 kilometers to the north, in Katrine, we didn't have nearly as much snow. We were out of that band.
Back about twenty-five years ago, when I was still an avid skier, one Friday night I and a friend were driving down to ski country south of Buffalo in my little Ford Fiesta, and we drove into one of those lake effect streamers. It came out of nowhere and before we knew it, we were in big trouble. Visibility was nil, the wind was blowing strong, and road became so covered with snow that it was impossible to tell where we were going. All road signs were completely unreadable, and the drifting snow was almost to the top of the mile markers in the side of the road. At one point, I stopped the car, on a major highway, got out and unfroze the wiper blades. When I looked around, I could see that we were the only car on the road. I nervously got back in the car and crept to the next visible exit. As I pulled off, I could see the blinking yellow lights of ten or twenty other cars and trucks in the same predicament, parked and waiting for the storm to abate. You’ll probably laugh to hear me say that one of the best cars I ever owned for driving in the snow was my 1970 VW Beetle. That thing had great traction, and if it did get stuck, it was light and fairly easy to move. The worst car for snow was my AMC Hornet station wagon.
Last Friday night we lit the first candles of Chanukah, so Happy Chanukah to all the members of my tribe. Only ten shopping days left until X-mas. If you’re at a loss for what to get that not-so-special someone who is nevertheless enthralled by your unfailing sense of humor, fear not! Google the Museum of Bad art, or MOBA for short; those guys have a slew of tacky gifts. If you don’t like that idea, there’s no finer gift than a Weekly World News Headline tee shirt. My favorite headlines: “BatBoy Lives!” and “Woman Killed by Mink Coat”. Seasons Beatings! Written by Jamie Oppenheimer c2009 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Back about twenty-five years ago, when I was still an avid skier, one Friday night I and a friend were driving down to ski country south of Buffalo in my little Ford Fiesta, and we drove into one of those lake effect streamers. It came out of nowhere and before we knew it, we were in big trouble. Visibility was nil, the wind was blowing strong, and road became so covered with snow that it was impossible to tell where we were going. All road signs were completely unreadable, and the drifting snow was almost to the top of the mile markers in the side of the road. At one point, I stopped the car, on a major highway, got out and unfroze the wiper blades. When I looked around, I could see that we were the only car on the road. I nervously got back in the car and crept to the next visible exit. As I pulled off, I could see the blinking yellow lights of ten or twenty other cars and trucks in the same predicament, parked and waiting for the storm to abate. You’ll probably laugh to hear me say that one of the best cars I ever owned for driving in the snow was my 1970 VW Beetle. That thing had great traction, and if it did get stuck, it was light and fairly easy to move. The worst car for snow was my AMC Hornet station wagon.
Last Friday night we lit the first candles of Chanukah, so Happy Chanukah to all the members of my tribe. Only ten shopping days left until X-mas. If you’re at a loss for what to get that not-so-special someone who is nevertheless enthralled by your unfailing sense of humor, fear not! Google the Museum of Bad art, or MOBA for short; those guys have a slew of tacky gifts. If you don’t like that idea, there’s no finer gift than a Weekly World News Headline tee shirt. My favorite headlines: “BatBoy Lives!” and “Woman Killed by Mink Coat”. Seasons Beatings! Written by Jamie Oppenheimer c2009 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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