Cabin fever and the Children's Blizzard

What a wonderful, old-fashioned snowy and bone-chilling start to the new year!

If the snow and cold of December didn't provide enough opportunities for you to have a good time, it is looking like January will be picking up the slack.

The forecast for the rest of the week calls for above average temperatures, allowing some of the snow we received this week to actually melt, which is a good thing. In some places, there simply isn't any more room.

Last week, the stomach flu paid a visit to our household, another sure sign of a fun filled winter. I waited until the weekend to come down with it, and spent over 12 hours in bed, in and out of sleep and waves of nausea.

Fun times.

The week began with some snow and blizzard conditions, followed by some crisp, clear Arctic air. Monday morning, I cleared my sidewalks and driveway. Monday night, I did the same. Tuesday morning, I did it again. It makes you wonder how many times you move the same snowflake...

January, especially cold and snowy Januaries, make for ideal times to have "cabin fever," that winter malady that can make even the largest home seem incredibly confining. I found it rather ironic (or perhaps just good programming) that one of the cable networks aired Stanley Kubrick's 1980 film adaptation of Stephen King's "The Shining," Monday night. This film is arguably one of the best cabin fever movies ever made. Jack Nicholson's over-the-top performance of the father driven insane by the haunted hotel is legendary and the filmmaker's use of camera angles and music to build a sense of claustrophobia is truly disturbing.

Just the thing to watch as a blizzard howls outside...

We changed channels to watch the weather on the local news and, as an afterthought, the weatherman brought up the January 12, 1888 blizzard. He mentioned, just before cutting to commercial that many schoolchildren lost their lives during the storm.

In doing some research on the storm, I came across a novel, "The Children's Blizzard," published in 2004 by David Laskin. The book recounts the storm and its aftermath.

According to materials I have read about the novel, Jan. 12, 1888 began as a warmer-than-normal day in Nebraska, the Dakotas, and Minnesota, the first warm day in quite some time. It must have been warm, because adults and children alike ventured out for the day without coats and gloves.

A cold front came through, and within three minutes the temperature dropped 18 degrees and the snow and wind began. According to accounts, the winds were of hurricane force and the snow was falling horizontally.

Weather forecasting and mass communication were both new to the area, with no effective way of communication other than personal contact, so getting the news out about the storm was impossible.

Teachers, students and parents all faced what turned out to be life or death decisions. Some children headed home, others stayed at the one-room school. Adults made agonizing decisions about their family members.

By the next morning, 500 people were dead in the snow. Children got lost in the snow, teachers attempted to lead children home while others burnt desks in the schoolhouse in an attempt to stay warm. Winds blew roofs off of schoolhouses. Parents died trying to carry their children to safety.

The Children's Blizzard remains the deadliest blizzard to hit the plains.

We take so much for granted today that it is easy to lose sight of the wondrous life saving technologies we have for weather forecasting and communications available to us.

I guess moving snow that I know is coming isn't that big of a deal after all.

As always, I welcome your comments. You can reach me by email at tstangl@lemarscomm.net, telephone 712-546-7031, x40 or toll free 1-800-728-0066 x40.

Thanks for reading, I'll keep in touch. Feel free to do the same.