I survived the ice storm of 1998

Brainstorming an event from the '90s.



The weather in Plattsburgh, New York is quite the fickle supernatural event. One day it may be a beautiful sixty-degrees with the sun shining and no cloud in sight. However, the next day there could be ten inches of snow and a day off from school; also known as the most beautiful two words in any child's langauage---a snow day. I loved snow days, in fact, I relished them. Any reason to get out of school, I was game. So when Plattsburgh entered an ice age for about two weeks, I was in heaven. Imagine waking up and seeing an ice skating rank in the backyard, covering every inch of ground for miles and miles of neighborhood living.

For most people the ice storm was quite the terrifying experience, but with power, hot water, no school and history happening before my eyes--it was like a dream come true.
The ice storm's cold behavior robbed the electrical power away from the majority of my town for more than two weeks. People were buying generators, cooking food on stoves, and living without a hygenic care. However, for some odd reason every house on our block lost power and was suffering the plague of ice, except my family. It was as if the angel of death passed by our door and swiped up everyone else in sight. We did not have anything different from any of the other houses on Cogan Avenue. Nevertheless, having power made the ice storm one enjoyable adventure for me.

Automatically, my house became the place of refuge. I would wake-up every new snow day to find my mother cooking homemade soup in pots the size of diner stools on our stove. Neighbors and friends would stop on by to receive a hot shower and bowls of the soup my mother slaved over. The "precision weather forecast" of News Channel Five would be giving the play by play in our living room of the destruction that the storm was causing. The biggest news day was when our little town managed to get on the Nightly News with Tom Brokaw for what the frosty weather did to our neck-of-the-woods. We were famous. The only destruction I saw was the deprivation of a solid fourth grade education and that was perfectly fine with me.

I read book after book, watched movies until my eyes could no longer bare a screen, and played with my brother day after day after day. I would press my nose against the window trying to peer out onto this new and extraordinary world that was being created before my eyes. Life was grand until reality knocked upon my little pink door.