Sunday, January 30, 2011

To the Airwaves

Storms come and with them our local television stations.

Julie made the big time on Wednesday afternoon, when in anticipation of another 10 inches or so of snow, Channel four prompted her out into the wind and rain to show them the prior damage and to gauge her feelings on the night ahead. A couple of facts got hung up in the gusts but I hope you enjoy the Tale of the Wind Blown Wife.



I was given a chance to go on the air with our neighbor Channel 5 meteorologist Mike Wankum the following morning. He had asked me to come out and to go on camera during the last storm but I think he was being polite as he caught me in sweats and a t shirt when he came to the door. This time he called ahead and I got myself ready. He and his camera man were set up at the beginning of Rebecca Road and we did 30 seconds or so right around 7:00 in the morning. School had been called at 5:00 for Haley and me and I waited out the worst of it before shoveling out around 10:00.

There were a fair number of rocks thrown up around the Tower again but they were small potatoes against the storms of last winter and spring. I went out today and began a clean up but only did about 40 minutes of what looks to be a 90 minute job. Every time I start shoveling stones I feel like Rocky training to fight Ivan Drago. After 40 minutes I am ready to get revenge for Apollo.

One of the stories yet to be told of the Boxing Day Blizzard was the discovery of a plaque thought lost for nearly 25 years. In 1986 The Cedar Point Association placed a plaque on the Tower commemorating 30th anniversary of the Grounding of Etrusco. A short time later the bronze sign was noted as gone from the Tower and vandalism was suggested. In the aftermath of the clean up in late December the missing plaque was discovered and turned in to the Scituate Police by a high school student named Brett Concannon. It was weather beaten and caked with sand when discovered. I cleaned it up some and it sits behind me as I type. Shortly it will make its way to the Maritime and Mossing Museum to join the other artifacts dedicated to that shipwreck. Call it the silver (or bronze) lining to what was otherwise a terrible storm.



There is another hit coming on Tuesday into Wednesday this week. As usual we are on the rain/snow line and the temperature will be the key. The tide is the most important ingredient for trouble here and that doesn't look to be extreme. If it gets bad, I will be back outside with the Rocky theme playing in my head, shoveling stone.

1 comment:

  1. We were there yesterday and noticed that there the Etrusco sign that is currently mounted to the lighthouse has dents in the surface, no doubt by some storm or other.

    It was fun to tell him that the lighthouse keeper also keeps a blog.

    Take care and thank you for all that you and your family do.

    ReplyDelete

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