i wish.

I was staying overnight with a friend who lived in an apt that had it's only entrance being One Door opening outward onto the alley behind Newburry St. The window had bars on them . We had no power and the phone lines were down . We had to yell out the window for help from passers by who were cross country skiing down the alley ! I remember when we got out we walked down Newburry st where I ended up stubbing My boot on a rock ( I thought ) when i began chipping away at the snow around it I realized it was the TOP of a parking meeter !
The city was in complete lock down mode . The troops were brought in . The Only nightlife we found was "Sporters" a gay dance club on Beacon hill. It had two separate front doors .. Someone had backed up their Van to one door and was playing their eight track and the bar was full of candle light . What wonderful memories . Folks were actually friendlly to each other in Boston for a few days ...

Now my brain woke up! National Guard was the only traffic on main roads, Side streets had no traffic at all and the kids loved IT. No school LOL! Then parents and kids had Feb. vacation! Snow forts were made by the kids and plenty of wet clothes. I still have the Globe where all the cars had been stranded on Route 128. My sisters in Roslindale lost power and the big snow plow had them in the shovel to get them to Rossy Square so they could get milk for the kids! Whew, that's a mind blower! Who said "whatever doesn't kill ya makes you stronger" was so right! Thank God we haven't seen a storm that bad again!

I remember the food shortages and the lack of heat and the loss of electricity. The roads were impassible and there were rumors of cannibilism...oh, sorry, that was Stalingrad. The Dukes white sweater, yeah, that's it, the Dukes white sweater and the Duckboats.

I remember all of the people burning what we could find in metal trash can on the street and everone just shoveling together. I also remember watching the fire on Wa shington street. Our friends lived with us for about a week because of that fire. I also remember walking with my parents to the nearest grocery store to get milk an d bread for any one who needed it.

I remember coming home from Navy boot camp, located in Illinois, just off the lake, where it gets as cold as 60 below with the windchill. I saw all the huge piles of snow and understood why my mom and my girlfriend couldn't make my graduation. They had been snowed in.

Lived on Centre at Ballard in the old white house where I wrested a sledge hammer from a lad unhappy with busing and the Globe, whose latter's news box was to be demolished at his hand. The military earthmovers cleared the street and repeatedly filled in our drive. Warnings by soldiers to take it easy at shoveling fell on proud deaf ears. People in Boston get friendly at such moments but manage to quickly overcome that alien feeling.

Wow, what a totally different experience! I was in college and we hadn't yet started the spring term so there we were, hundreds of kids with no reading to do or papers to write. Harvard closed for the first time in 40 years and there was a state of emergency. All the university employees stayed home and we amused ourselves rumbling around in the tunnels under the Houses looking for peanut butter and ice cream. Two friends and I took garbage cans into the Harvard stadium and then rolled them down to create a smooth lane from the announcer's booth out onto the field. And the we shot down using lunch trays as sleds. It was only later that I learned how really horrible the storm had been for most people and that was heartbreaking. But you know what? It was still an excellent, excellent adventure!