Have the winter doldrums taken hold? I pine for the days of bone-chilling temperatures when spit freezes, and blizzards. Here is an elixir in the form of snowy nostalgia.
No two flakes are alike. They blanket the ground with snowy solace.
Snowstorms in the North Shore have been scarce. This is due to higher than normal temperatures impacted by global warming. It’s been almost 11 years since “Snowmageddon,” our snowiest season on record, when we were buried under a record-breaking 111 inches. Nearly 2 feet of snow fell at a time, and over 5 feet of the stuff in February alone.
Some of us remember the Blizzard of ’78 when hurricane-force winds and coastal flooding paralyzed the region, leaving over 100 people dead across the U.S. Homes and people were swept away. The perfect storm of a new moon and stalls created surges that reshaped our coastline and caused massive damage. Governor Dukakis declared a State of Emergency in his turtlenecks from a Command Center. The National Guard provided necessary assistance with snow removal, rescues, and emergency transportation.
I recall perilously driving home from The Beanpot in a blinding whiteout. Cars were stranded in towering snowdrifts up and down a paralyzed Route 128. Some survived in their cars for 24 hours. The jarring images are in my memory to this day. I had to drive in the wrong direction on an off-ramp to make it home. Hundreds stayed at the Boston Garden that night for a makeshift party.
As a kid, after shoveling our endless corner lot, I hit the streets to clear walks and driveways in our ‘hood. With shovel and ice chopper on my shoulder like some snow soldier, I knocked on doors. One after another. Not taking no for an answer. I loved feeling like a drowned rat with money jingling in my pocket. One woman paid me in apples since that’s all she could afford. My goal was to earn enough money to buy the biggest Valentine’s chocolate heart at the corner pharmacy for my mom, and have something left over for baseball cards and a few dollars to deposit in my savings account.
When the work was done it was time to play. My pals and I would build snowmen, forts, play hit the pole with snowballs, and clear the basketball court for a flurry of activity. Games like 10 from the corner, taps, one-on-one, the Celtics Game of the Week. Whatever we could muster until we were called in for meals.
Then there are figurative “flakes.”
These are the quirky people that add color to our lives. I think of them not as those who are unreliable and erratic, but rather the certifiable flakes among us that wistfully dance to a different drummer. Like Beethoven, Steve Jobs and Elon Musk. I have a segment called the Musk Watch in my curricula where we track his histrionics on a weekly basis.
“Snowflake” has taken on an entirely new meaning in today’s political arena. These are people with a grandiose sense of self-worth. Narcissists. The right has wielded the word against liberals as an epithet. Lately, however, Trump is turning the White House into his own band of snowflakes with blind ambition.
Who wines when he isn’t lionized? Or seeks retribution against others that don’t share his opinion? Comedian Neal Brennan referred to Trump on The Daily Show as “the biggest snowflake in America.”
Snowy and Eastern Screech Owls at the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge on Plum Island are majestic. They’ve been attracting photographers and birders this season who wait patiently for hours. I’m told that the thrill of a glimpse is indescribable.
Snowies visit us until April when food is scarce in the Arctic. They’re drawn by the island’s salt marshes and sand dunes for hunting rodents.
Snowflakes aren’t dancing the way they used to although they are predicting a humdinger on Sunday. I miss the unbridled elation of snow days, power outages, stoking the wood burning stove, and warming your mukluks by the fire. But there are flakes of other varieties everywhere.
Readers’ responses to my last column “Unsung Heroes”:
“Bob Trudeau took volunteerism to a whole different level and it was great that you did him honor.”
Tony Conti, Danvers
“A very sweet and inspiring article. Makes me want to grab an orange apron, make a coffee cup, take it to the coffee shop, fill it and then coach a soccer game.”
Barry Spector, Seattle, Washington
“Lovely as usual. A little multi-portrait of the North Shore’s best!”
Marna Lawrence, Peekskill, New York
Steve Steinberg lives in Danvers and is an adjunct professor in Endicott College’s Gerrish School of Business Graduate Program. He is a frequent contributor to The Salem News.