Ten-Car Pileup in Glendale, According to Girl

Ten-car pileup according to Girl: I imagine that our Michigan origins would have prepared us for this.

We were used to cold, frigid weather, we were used to frostbitten fingers and toes, we were used to waking up on winter mornings with real frost outlining our bedroom windows, the same kind they now sell to stores to spray on for a Christmas window effect when the season rolls around each year. We were appropriately dressed when growing up with the usual colorful scarves wrapped multiple times around our neck and face to keep out the wind. We learned we could determine the temperature by looking out the window to see how the kids were dressed. If we see only the eyes, it was cold.

However, as the sun and temperature warmed, the scarf line moved to below the nose and eventually below the lips and only covering the neck. You would most likely see most of the neighborhood kids with unmatched mittens (the other match had gotten lost somewhere in the small winter clothes closet in the tiny homes on the West Side). We would bundle up with hand-me-down snow pants, hand-knitted caps, scratchy wool coats in dark colors with buttons in the shape of root beer barrels and boots that tried their best to keep our toes warm. Mostly we wore the boots that slipped over shoes, this way we did not have to carry extra shoes with us for wearing at school or church.

The weather in Glendale that first year was like any typical Long Island winter, which was much warmer than what we were used to in Michigan (due to the proximity of the island to the ocean).

Michigan has lake effect snow. That’s what Mike and I were used to. Lake effect snow is the terminology used to describe what happens when the southwest winds, which blow almost continually in this region, sweep across Lake Michigan from Chicago. As they whisk along the surface of the cold water, they pick up moisture, and then deposit it as enormous amounts of snow on the other side of the lake. We grew up living on the west coast of Michigan, and so became very familiar with the severity of "Michigan winters."

Long Island, on the other hand, stayed warmer and dryer than did the Midwest. Ocean breezes were functional for not only moderating the temperature, but also for keep large deposits of snow out of New York, until. . .

We were walking to the bus stop.

The sidewalks were covered with an extremely thick sheet of ice that morning. I looked at the leafless tree branches on that beautiful winter day, the sun had just come out, and each twig was sparkling with a very

thick coat of ice, like the snow scene from Dr. Zhivago. I could almost feel the doctor’s breath on my neck. The quiet fairyland ice storm had created rows and rows of trees full of glass art, suddenly it broke the silence…

The crash.

Breaking glass.

Another crash.

Eight more.

We hustled to Myrtle Avenue, even though we knew what the noise meant.

There were ten cars total. People were out of their vehicles screaming at each other, breaking the silence of the magical fairyland morning.

Sirens were sounding. Help will be here soon.

I was glad, in a way, to have a Michigan winter day greet us that morning.

Time to get to work.