STRANDED!

   SATURDAY, MARCH 3RD., 2018
                STRANDED!

    I had strict orders Friday! Though
the snow was falling at least an inch an
hour my wife said I was not to go
outside to shovel or make any attempt
to drive to the nearest store for some
necessity like ice cream or chips.
    Even after a kind neighbor shoveled
in front of our cars and the local snow
plow driver made his rounds I was
stranded inside.
    It's not the first time I've been
stranded in a snowstorm!
    And with sincere apologies to those
of you who may have been stuck in
traffic for a few hours Friday....you
don't know the half of it!
    Twice during my television
reporting days I found myself stuck
on one of our Interstate highways
for an entire night!
    Years back a whole mess of
people were literally cut off on a
rural highway by an avalanche!
The station sent our satellite truck
and my cameraman and I out to
central Pennsylvania to cover the
story.
     The people were freed and we
gathered interviews in time for the
6 o'clock news.
     Our truck headed home, ironically,
on back roads. My cameraman and
I took the Interstate. The truck made
it back. We didn't!
      We were OK for the first 40
minutes or so. Then the snow got
heavy and a couple tractor trailers,
somewhere miles ahead, jack
knifed closing the highway and
blocking all available exits. We
had just passed one when we got
stuck but other than its number
the only sigh at that one read
"No services off this exit."
      We figured even if we could
back up and get off it was a
secondary roadway leading
nowhere!
      That was  about 7:30 at night.
We finally got moving again about
6 the following morning!
       A few years later, during a
March blizzard, another photographer
and I were returning from Schuylkill
County when the snow on I-81 shut
traffic down for miles. We had just
passed the north exit for McAdoo
and couldn't move!
        We had a cell phone by then
but the County Emergency Agency
said there was nothing to be done
until tractor trailers could be
removed and snow plows could
get ahead of the stranded motorists.
        We had an extra problem that
trip because our gas gauge was low!
We had to run our car on a sort of
ration plan so we could keep some
heat inside.
         We did lend our cellphone, still
somewhat rare at the time, to a quartet
of daters who needed to get an
explanation to their homes pretty
quickly!
         It was during "March Madness"
and we had a small battery powered
TV set with us. Of course reception
was so bad it looked like there were
20 players on the court.
         Then there was the occasional
need to relieve ourselves through the
freezing night. A huge Tractor Trailer
provided the only nearby cover but
it was most welcome.
          I was at least able to use the
cell phone to call in reports to the
station so that unexpected overtime
shift provided for a day off once I
got home around 11 the following
morning.
         I'm thinking what with TV,
a refrigerator, furnace, and bathroom,
I prefer being stranded inside!
         Hope you weathered the
weather and that all your NEWS is
good!