February 2005

Talk about being caught in the grips of a deep freeze. Grandma's garden is resting till spring under a blanket of snow. Seems that my writer's brain was in somewhat of a deep freeze also, but thanks to an evening spent with my older brother Carl, his wife Tena, and my music and literary inspiration partner the thaw took over.

Imagine sitting down to a meal of lasagna with venison meatballs, venison chili served over tiny pasta bows, and for desert apple pie made from apples picked from the Jessup Road Orchard (see A Bite Out of Genesis). What an absolutely wonderful cook my sister-in-law Tena is!

Let's go back in time to the 1950s.

The snow storms then were not to be taken lightly. So the story unfolds. Some of the details were a little vague, but thanks to Carl everything fell into place. Stephen Crane Village, in northern Newark where we lived, was very close to the end of the line for the subway system and the bus terminal.

Many of the people from the neighborhood parked their cars there and then commuted to work either via bus or subway. This is where the fun for the Newark Huck Finn boys began.

As the snow piled up we waited for the commuters to return for their cars to drive home. We were lucky enough to have the day off from school because of the storm.

Does anyone remember those good old galoshes? Yes, those rubber boots with metal buckles. If you were lucky you put them on over your shoes. Boy, were they fun with just your stocking feet nestled inside sharing the confines with about a pound of snow.

Years ago they didn't plow the roads as good as they do today. The cars were rear wheel drive, which meant they really did slip and slide, and the tires were not the greatest.

So the good old (young) Hucksters would help the commuters by pushing their cars out of the snow bank to get them on their way. Here's the fun part. Once the car got rolling through the slush covered streets we would grab hold of the rear bumper and squat down hitching and sliding a slippery ride.

Beware of the manhole covers since the heat below them would leave them bare and that didn't make for good sliding. It was fun trying to straddle them as the cars went slipping down the road. The drivers didn't dare stop to holler at us since they would most likely get stuck and we would just have to push them to get their cars going again.

Yes it was a win-win situation for the Hucksters when the snows came.

Skipper Miano where are you?