The Chicago Blizzard of '67-- Part 2: No Shoveling for Me

This snowstorm really caught Chicago by surprise.  The days leading up to it were unseasonably warm, topping out at 65 degrees the Tuesday, January 24.  A whole lot of people got into a spring fever mode.

Then came Thursday, January 26.  Forecasts called for four inches of snow.  The first flakes came down at 5:02 a.m..  It soon got up to that four inches...but didn't stop.  It continued for 29 hours, ending at 10:10 a.m. Friday January 27.

Even though Chicago expects snow during the winter, this overwhelmed everything.  Chicago and surrounding suburbs, including where we lived in Palatine, snowed to a halt.  Schools were called off.  Kids rejoiced.

Not only was there fun to be had out in that snow, but a great possibility of earning some extra spending money shoveling.  Remember, this was in the days before snowblowers and parents weren't afraid to put their kids to work.

However, I was unable to go outside or earn extra money as I was laid up with a broken leg (a wrestling injury back in December).  All I could do was continue practicing with my hockey game (those with the spindles attached to players that you moved up and down the rink).

But, I sure did enjoy watching my brother Bob putting on his snow gear to do some shoveling.  I couldn't help but smile.  To this day, he swears that I broke my leg on purpose to get out of shoveling this snow.''

A Real Snow Job.  --RoadDog