My Imperfect Storm
by Brad Manzo
The impending snowstorm
was destined for historical greatness.
Meteorologists (or fortunetellers - as I like to call them) were
predicting the collision of two powerful storms resulting in the Northeast becoming blanketed with snow.
I personally loved the
idea. It combined two things that I thoroughly enjoyed - snow and the
possibility of a day off from work. As
soon as I heard about the two monster storms coming to our neck
of the woods, I began checking the weather channel every hour. Each
prediction was bolder than the next. Comparisons were drawn
to the great blizzard of 1888.
I became a bright-eyed
12-year-old once again (though my wife argued I never stopped being a
12-year-old). I drew up a mental list of all the things I’d
do on my day off. First thing I’d do, of course, is
sleep late. Then I’d make an enormous omelette before heading out to the video store and renting
the entire Jackie Chan collection. In reality, I knew if the big storm hit, I’d spend most of my day shoveling and the rest of the day
complaining about how sore I was.
However, indulging myself in the fantasy was
far more exciting than reality.
As the storm grew nearer,
my excitement level rose to a fever pitch. The local weathermen, who I had
previously mocked, were now my best friends and brilliant, to boot.
“Everyone’s predicting
this one, honey,” I told my wife.
“You’re still going to
work,” my wife replied.
I knew in the back of my
mind that I should never trust the local weather people. As I liked to say about
meteorologists, “If I did my job right only 50 percent of the time, well, I’d
be out of a job.” However, this storm was too good to be true.
As a light flurry began to fall, I started
telling my wife, “I told you so,” about every fifteen minutes. After a couple
of hours of just snow flurries, the weather reports began to vary slightly.
Some forecasts were still predicting two feet, but others were discussing the
possibility of that dreaded ‘change over to rain.’ I remained strong and
defiant as the flurries continued to fall.
As the night wore on and
conditions began to get a little icy, my hope was renewed. I began to step
outside every half-hour to examine the weather first-hand. I figured I’d stay up late to watch the glorious snow come down. Besides,
I probably wasn’t going to work the next day anyway.
I finally went to sleep
around