Jan. 6: Memories of THE ice storm
I was asked to write my memories of THE ice storm. You will notice that
THE is all-caps, which suggests that there is one ice storm that stands
as the definitive ice storm. Since I am living in Eastern Ontario, I
will assume that I am to write about the ice storm that struck this
region in early 1998. Some weather pundits consider it the most serious
ice storm in recorded history. Thousands of people in East Ontario and
parts of the United States were without power for about a month. The
storm did major damage to the power grid.
My memory of that storm is hearing about it on the news and being happy I didn't live in Eastern Ontario.
I was in Calgary and I was dating my very first girlfriend since high school. She was blonde and she wore a black beret. She had a fish named Matisse and once we bought curtains at Ikea (I bought curtains with my girlfriend, I mean. Not Matisse.) My girlfriend had lived in Montreal for a few years so she knew some people from the area who were affected by the storm. She told me that the French word for thumb is 'pouce.' To this day, that is my favourite French word.
Now that I am living in East Ontario, I have talked to other people about their memories of the ice storm. There were lots of people in the country who'd had the foresight to buy backup generators, so they were able to keep their homes up and running for a while. Other people had to go to emergency shelters and community centres. I think I spoke to someone who said they remembered playing cards for hours on end. If I was in one of those shelters, I would have entertained people with magic tricks. That is what I do best.
My memory of that storm is hearing about it on the news and being happy I didn't live in Eastern Ontario.
I was in Calgary and I was dating my very first girlfriend since high school. She was blonde and she wore a black beret. She had a fish named Matisse and once we bought curtains at Ikea (I bought curtains with my girlfriend, I mean. Not Matisse.) My girlfriend had lived in Montreal for a few years so she knew some people from the area who were affected by the storm. She told me that the French word for thumb is 'pouce.' To this day, that is my favourite French word.
Now that I am living in East Ontario, I have talked to other people about their memories of the ice storm. There were lots of people in the country who'd had the foresight to buy backup generators, so they were able to keep their homes up and running for a while. Other people had to go to emergency shelters and community centres. I think I spoke to someone who said they remembered playing cards for hours on end. If I was in one of those shelters, I would have entertained people with magic tricks. That is what I do best.
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