The recent ice storm in Southern Ontario reminded me of the winter of ’68 when I was a girl. I recall how the city of Toronto virtually froze in its tracks. It was wonderful for the children, with school cancelled, we played outside, skating and tobogganing. I don’t recall if our home in Scarborough had a blackout, but we would have bundled up and drank hot chocolate and played cards. Television wasn’t as important as it is today and personal computers were unheard of.
The December 21st ice storm is considered to be
one of the worst. Four days later, much of Toronto is still without power and
the temperature has dropped well below zero. We lost power on Sunday morning
for six hours. The house became quite cool and Tom was ready to uninstall the
electric insert so we could burn wood in the basement fireplace. No need for
such drastic measures. The power came on at noon and we were glad of the hot coffee
and raisin bread toast to warm our bodies. I spent my time reading Stuart McLean's book, The Vinyl Cafe Story Exchange. The personal stories reminded me of something from my childhood and I will write down the memory and send it to them. Perhaps they will read it aloud on their radio show or publish it in the next Vinyl Cafe Collection.
