Big Snowstorm Report and Remembering a Blizzard From the Past.

 Well the big snow storm of Sunday was definitely big, though not exactly the monster that was forecast.

The forecast was for 20 plus inches of new snow. But here in Dover NH we got 13 inches, which is not nothing, but seems like not much compared to the predictions.

Many years ago, one of my more memorable victories was during a huge snowstorm.

I'm not 100% of the year, but it was in the early 70s. I was working as a messenger for the alternative weekly newspaper, The Real Paper, in Cambridge Mass.

My usual job was to drive one of their cars around Greater Boston picking up ad copy, dropping off proofs, delivering any sort of paperwork that needed to go to an advertiser or anyone else involved the publication.

When this storm hit, it quickly became impossible to drive the cars. There may have actually have been a prohibition of "non-essential" driving for the duration.

But it was deadline day for the paper. The printing shop in Connecticut was expecting our material that night, and missing that window would be a big problem. And we didn't have all the ad copy for that week.

We could have published without those ads, but we wouldn't have been paid by those advertisers, and a couple of them were a big deal. Their ad artwork was at an advertising agency in downtown Boston, we were in Harvard Sq Cambridge.

I volunteered to get on the subway, which was reported to be running, if slowly, and go get the packages.

The Red Line got me there with not too much delay. I walked from the station to the agency's office building, and got the stuff.

But when I got back to the subway they reported that it had stopped running. It would be hours before another train came by. And the busses had long since stopped.

The snow had been falling all day and the wind was howling. It didn't seem like a good day to be out on foot. But I was a fearless 20-something who had no doubt he'd live forever. I'd just walk back. I headed out into the howling snowstorm, and started the hike back to Cambridge.

I trudged across the wind whipped Harvard Bridge. Started up Mass Ave. Stopped a couple times in the few business that were open, to warm my toes. And continued on.

It was a long cold walk. And maybe I was in some danger, but it never occurred to me. Even way back then I instinctively believed the idea that, "the show must go on". Or in this case, the newspaper.

This was long before cell phones, I may have reported in from a pay phone once or twice. but I'm sure my coworkers back in the office wondered if I'd make it. But eventually I walked into our office, snow covered, a little worn-out, and smiling.

I was greeted like a conquering hero. The package I had been protecting from the snow, under my coat, was whisked away to the production department, where it filled the lucrative gaps in the week's paper. 

And for a while anyway I was toasted at The Real Paper as the guy who saved the issue. Or at least a big chunk of the revenue for that issue.