The Great Blizzard of 1978

Pennsylvania barn in snow from a later storm (I don't have pictures of '78). E. Brundige © 1992

I was too young to know the danger -- all I remember is the wonder. We lived in Chester County, PA, right outside Amish country, among farms, fields, and little clumps of forests that looked like The Shire. Better to be there than in the city: we had a root cellar and food stored away, plus a full rack of split wood and a fireplace. It was still an adventure.

My father was stubborn; he'd heard the weather reports, but stayed at work until the end of the day, then drove home.

Or tried to. Country roads back east are older than you realize; a century or two of use has dug them down below high banks on either side. Snow blows across and falls into the trough. A mile or so from home (it's a miracle he got that far) it was just impossible to cut through. My Dad drove his Buick into a nearby farmer's field where the snowplows wouldn't catch it, then walked home.

He's fortunate he made it home. Even pushing through snow up to your knees can be hard work, hard enough to cause heart attacks. Plus it's easy to get lost in white-out conditions. He should've gone to the farmer's house and stayed put. I know that now.

At any rate, Dad got home, and we tucked in with the winds howling and the drifts blowing across the yard like ocean waves. I don't remember the night that well. I just remember the days after: walls of snow. I don't remember how long the power was out: that's what the Coleman stove in the garage, the fireplace and candles were for.

Mainly, I remember hiking up the road each day in the bright cold sun, snowbanks higher than my head, drifts taller than my father's. My parents carried shovels. It took them some time even to find where the car was buried. Each day they'd dig a little more of it out, while I helped or played in the snowbanks, digging tunnels. The snowplows didn't come through for days. I think school was closed for over a week.

I remember my little black dog hopping along in the snow-paths we made, his tail just visible at the top of each bound.

We were lucky.