You’d think this region would stop being surprised at snow fall and the ebb and flow of lake effect snow storms. They’ve been part of the vernacular around here for as long as I can remember. And I remember making my first capitalist inroads during the famed Blizzard of 77. Previous to that helping my Dad clear snow from the driveway largely consisted of me staying inside and watching TV. Pretty sure he’ll back me on that one as the last thing you want while running a snow blower is something else on the driveway. Prior to that storm, I was largely something else.
The big storms have been no big deal, you pick up, you shovel, you move on. I remember a Sunday afternoon storm that dropped 4 feet over the course of an afternoon and nobody was overly stranded, but we seem to be losing our grasp a bit. I don’t know if it was the Thanksgiving storm of 2000 or the surprise storm of October 2006, our mojo is lacking a little. As Buffalo Pundit pointed out today, we don’t embrace fully this season as much as we should.
After the events of the past day or so, we seem to be losing a little of our winter hubris. The Thruway Authority might want to relabel itself after the fiasco that had folks trapped on that roadway for almost a day. Aren’t these the things we should have plans for? Shouldn’t they are a strategy beyond collecting tolls? If they were a little overwhelmed, should somebody call the county who apparently had people ready to help? Should I even know that Michael Buble’s tour bus got stuck?
Apparently there are some calls to get most of those questions answered by reviews from folks from all corners. I guess my thought is that none of this is new. Witness the story on Channel 2 of the poor devil who got trapped on the Thruway in the storm in 2000, only to get stuck pretty much in the same spot Wednesday night.
You can’t predict the variabilities of Lake Effect Snow Storms, but haven’t we had enough to at least have a plan. I’m with pundit in that we need to embrace all four seasons, but a good chunk of the fun is chuckling at the areas where they close after two inches of snow. We need to reclaim our rightful hubris when it comes to snow.
The Powder Keg Fest and Flurrious are great starts for the fun side of the snow, but we need to get our crap together for just living with it. From the city northwards, there wasn’t much, but folks shouldn’t have to get their storm stories from being on the 90.
Mike's Pub 