Continuing with the white wash.
Think I'll Get a Snowblower-- One thing the 1979 winter did was convince Chicagoans and surbanites alike that perhaps the time had come to fork out dough for a snowblower. Even cheap 'ol me. Plus, we kept hearing dire warnings that if we thought this winter was bad, wait until we saw what mother nature had in store for us next year. You couldn't find a snowblower anywhere in Chicagoland.
Then, the next winter, we hardly had any snow. I wonder if this was a ploy by the snowblower companies. Fortunately, we inherited one from Aunt Lee over the summer of '79.
Don't Eat That Yellow Snow-- Wise words from Frank Zappa. Also, don't eat any snow by the ice houses with yellowish lettering.
But actually, snow can come in an assortment of colors besides tradional white. It can even sparkle as one of the snows we had this last week showed. Glacier snow can appear blue. Algae growing on fallen snow can create greens and reds, sometimes called watermelon snow. Last February, orange snow fell in Siberia, but officials believe it had something to do with a heavy sandstorm in Kazakhistan.
I remember Mom making quite a tasty frozen snow treat but don't remember exactly how she did it.
Pank Me-- In Michigan's Upper Peninsula, an area that gets a fair amount of the white stuff, snow that has settled or been packed down so that you can walk on it is called "panked."
Milton the Snowcat-- We had one cat in Palatine who absolutely loved the snow. His name was Milton. One of his and our favorite things was for him to go out and we would build an igloo around him, even over him. I remember Bob looking in at a hole at the top one time and a paw erupting from the top with snow flying everywhere. Bob dropped back as if he'd been hit, which he had. Now, that was one very funny scene.
Bad, Bad Eagles Fans-- I've heard tell that Philadelphia fans can be somewhat rude and nasty. At a 1968 game, Eagles fans threw snowballs at Santa Claus. Where's the coal?
Big Cubbie Snowball Fight-- I remember one Cub opening day where snow had fallen during the night. There came to be quite a snowball fight between the left and right field bleachers. The air was literally filled with snowballs.
World's Largest Snowball Fight-- A couple years ago, Wauconda, Illinois, about ten miles from here, had the largest snowball fight recorded, but I believe it has been broken since then.
Snowball Fight in Miss Kist's Geometry Class-- Even though as a teacher I was supposed to put a stop to any snowball fights and give detentions (I never did. Everybody knows there are few things in life more fun than a good old fashioned snowball fight), when I was a student, it was a different thing.
I can remember back during sophomore year at good old Palatine High School when we had a pretty good snowball fight in Miss Kist's geometry class. A heavy snow had left snow on the ledges outside the room. A simple lift of a window gave you lots of snowballs. To say the least, we had a great time until she came in and was hit. Quite a scramble for the desks and she was nice enough to laugh about it.
I have to wonder what the janitor thought of all that water on the floor. At least it wasn't yellow.
Pack Fans and the Frozen Tundra at Lambeau-- In Green Bay, fans by the hundreds volunteer to come into Lambeau Stadium and remove snow from the seating sections. They do this for free. What fans!!
Snow at 50 Degrees-- Under certain conditions, you can get snow even at 50 degrees. In the Midwest, about the highest temp for snow is 40 degrees.
Thunder Snow Storm-- I can remember hearing thunder during one snowstorm.
Snow-Removal--Chinese-Style-- While I was teaching georgraphy, I remember one picture of China's Tiananmen Square where hundreds of Chinese people were lines up pushing snowshovels across that massive acreage. Using muscle power instead of machine power. With gas prices what they are these days, I would have to guess they all must have snowblowers.
Definitely Not eating the Yellow Snow. --Old Cooter
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