A Bungalow by the Lake: A Winter to Remember
Living Life to the Fullest
I’ll never forget the time I lived in a bungalow by a lake. It was a dream come true, until it wasn’t. The property had been condemned by the Board of Health, but I was lucky to have Marie looking out for me. She quickly found me another place to call home.
Rekindling Old Friendships
Pokey and I went way back to our high school days. We weren’t exactly close friends, but we became acquaintances in our senior year when our guidance counselor put us in Mr. Bryant’s film class. It was supposed to be an easy way to earn credits, but it ended up being so much more. We watched classic black and white films, led by lively discussions with Mr. Bryant. For our final project, we created a short movie, “The Chase,” which featured our hot rods and a thrilling chase scene.
Winter Adventures
The first winter Pokey and I worked together was a memorable one. We hauled logs for firewood and plowed snow using an F1300 dump truck. We became inseparable, and I spent a lot of time at his house, getting to know Marie and Joe, his dad. Marie was a wealth of knowledge, and she treated me like a second son. I learned a valuable lesson from her about respecting people’s privacy.
A Cozy In-Law Apartment
Pokey’s in-law apartment was a cozy 20′ x 20′ space with a living room, bedroom, galley kitchen, and bathroom. It had electric heat, and Barney paid all the utilities. The small mudroom at the entrance was perfect for removing dirty boots before entering. However, when I first walked in, I had an allergy attack due to the cat dander embedded in the yellow shag carpet. I had to shampoo it twice to get rid of the smell.
The Blizzard of ’78
My girlfriend was in her first year of college in Boston when the snowstorm of the century hit. The weathermen initially underestimated its potential, but by Sunday, they were predicting a nor’easter that might be bigger than the one that flooded the bungalow a few weeks earlier. The storm dropped 21″ of snow in 12 hours, with wind gusts of up to 50 MPH. People thought that would be the memorable snowstorm of ’78, but little did they know what was to come.
Trapped in the Apartment
When the snow started falling on Monday, February 6, people attempted to get out of Boston, but the snow fell too fast, and the hurricane-force wind gusts made it impossible. Many were forced to abandon their vehicles on Route 128, risking carbon monoxide poisoning. I was trapped in my apartment, worried about my girlfriend’s safety. The phone lines were still working, but the trains were down, and there were power outages. She had no way out of Boston, and the school was running out of food.
Digging Out
I finally managed to dig my way out of the apartment, creating an opening in the snow-covered storm door. When I emerged, I could only see snow. My car and Barney’s blue Lesabre were both completely buried. A 15′ snow drift covered the entrance to the apartment and the roof above it.
Reunited at Last
Two days later, the trains were running again, and my girlfriend got on an Amtrak headed for Sharon. I met her at the train station, and we had to walk two miles to her house through the snow-packed roads. It was reported that Boston and Providence had 21″ of snow, but in Sharon and parts of Massachusetts, it was closer to three feet. Despite the challenges, it was a peaceful time that brought people together in a way I had never seen before.
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