1967 - Chicago's 23 inch snow job shuts down the city that works.
1979 - Mayor Mike Bilandic, hand picked by the dead Richard J. Daley, ("Da police ain't here to create disorder, da police is here to preserve disorder.") naively believes top aides who claim that the city had successfully removed 17 inches of partly cloudy, and tells Chicagoans just that.
COINCIDENCE? I think NOT.
Lib' er al : N, a. Tending to give freely; generous: a liberal benefactor.
b. Generous in amount; ample: a liberal serving of potatoes.
Drift: N, 1. The act or condition of drifting.
- Something moving along in a current of air or water.
- A bank or pile, as of sand or snow, heaped up by currents of air or water.
FROM THE CHURCH OF INEFFABLE STUPIDITY:
Heh, Mike Bilandic ended up losing his job because of that storm. Crazy Jane Byrne (See Mike Royko, generally) beat him and provided 4 years of bipolar entertainment thereafter. Luckily, Mike ran for judge, and eventually was on the Illinois Supreme Court. A really nice and smart guy. I sat next to him when we took life drawing classes at a local art center.
Global climactic change? Yeah, if seeing your huge Great Pyre bound and bounce happily, chest deep in the snow, that's climactic. Pity is, he disappears if he lays down.
Er, that's global CLIMATE change, pastor, CLIMATE, not climactic.
By 4 am, Chicago's Midway aerodrome reported more than 17 inches, O'Hare claimed 16. Both have cancelled thousands of flights in and out. Interstate 80, the east west artery in the sudensuburbs, was shut down, with truckers and car owners simply abandoning their vehicles. Apparently, the drifts were so high, and the winds so strong, that snow plows were being blown off the road.
Chicago's LSD? Zonkers. What a trip that was. It's a good thing that no trucks are permitted on the Drive. That left more room for cars to be abandoned from Foster to 67th all along the shores of Lake Michigan. If they don't get the cars out now, it may have to wait until March. We are expecting 65 mph gusts from the east, and seriously falling temperatures. If you have never seen a 20 foot breaker crash onto Lake Shore Drive, and freeze instantly, you really haven't seen this city at its best.
All courts are closed. (sniff) All schools are closed. Many expressways and tollways are either crawling, or closed. Major city arteries are closed, or impassible.
Chicago is home to two interesting habits (other than sporting perennially lovable losers ie, Cubs). We tow anyone parked on a major street when there is 1 inch of snow. (Translation: Tight parking suddenly becomes even tighter) People who spend hours digging out their car and their parking spot claim temporary ownership of that real estate. Seriously. Broken chairs, tables, boxes, chests of drawers carefully mark out the area they claim as their personal parking spot.
The most imaginative parking claim I've seen was near my old home up north. We had about 10 inches of partly cloudy and the hardest part was finding out which car was yours. (my honey broke down in tears after spending 40 minutes digging out someone else's car by mistake. I was out of town at the time) This household dug out their car, and set up a whole table setting, with candle, plates, a bottle of bubbly, and two chairs, making sure no one dared take their parking spot.
Chicagoans take the fruit of their labor seriously. Taking someone's else's dug out parking spot has led to shootings, beatings, break up of friendships, even divorces. Hell, the newspapers even issue polls on this practice.
Around my nape of the forest, at 8am CST, we have 20-23 inches, not counting a liberal sprinkling of drifts. Some of the drifts are 4-5 feet high. Luckily, my sudensuburb has plowed early and often, much like our voting habits. While my large 4x4 pickmeuptruck could probably get me to where I wished to go, methinks that sitting in front of a roaring fire, playing games with Honey, and heading out with the puppies is a far more productive use of my time.
By the way, it's still snowing.
ON EDIT 19.5 inches, and it is snowing even harder. Again.