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Today, believe it or not, marks the 30th anniversary of the 1991 ice storm.

It began with rain on the afternoon of March 3. Overnight, the rain turned to ice, and many of us woke up to the gunshot sounds of limbs breaking and falling into the yards and streets. More than 200,000 homes lost power, many for as long as two weeks.

I was living in the city at the time, on Bedford Street just off of Bay. I have vivid memories of that day. Mostly I remember what a beautiful scene Mother Nature had painted, bathing everything in sparkling ice. And I remember how much devastation it brought to our street. Broken branches and fallen trees made the road impassible.

I also recall how everyone on the street came out to help clean up the mess. Several chainsaws showed up seemingly out of nowhere, and neighbors from up and down the street who rarely spoke to one another worked together to drag detritus into yards. As often happens during tragedy, community members came together without even being asked, to help one another out.

We never lost power, or even cable, that day, so we were one of the lucky ones. The following year, however, the city came by and removed a significant number of trees that had been severely damaged by the storm. Our beautiful tree-lined street looked almost bare.

I realized that day that the storm was a unique event, so I took several photos, which you see here. I wish I’d taken many more.

How about you? Were you living in Webster then? What was it like here during the ice storm of ’91? If you have any memories or photos from that day that you’d like to share, please send them along, or post a comment here or on my Facebook page.

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email me  at missyblog@gmail.com. “Like” this blog on Facebook and follow me on Twitter.

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Follow Me” link on the right side of this page.

This last year has been awful. There’s no two ways about it. Covid-19 has brought sickness, death, separation and financial ruin to millions.

Our world has been put through the wringer. But while it’s really hard to see past all the terrible things that have happened and are still happening, if you look closely enough, it’s possible to see some positives that have come out of this experience.

I was chatting about this the other day with the nurse at school. In a normal year, children would often come to her office complaining of stomach bugs or with random (non-Covid) fevers. But thanks to the fact that everyone is wearing masks, she’s seeing those routine viruses a whole lot less. Kids are just not getting sick as much.

And that goes for us adults, too. I’ve usually contracted two or three colds by this point in the school year, but I haven’t gotten sick once. It’s not unusual for a stomach bug to run through the family as well, but not this year. Masks have reduced transmission, and since I’m not seeing family members as much, so they can’t infect me.

I realized there must be other ways in which our lives have changed for the better as a result of Covid. Here’s what I came up with, and maybe you can add some more:

• Zoom. Like most people, I was totally unfamiliar with this program until the pandemic. But it quickly became an outstanding tool to stay connected with friends (like my regular Friday night virtual euchre game), family (playing Jackbox with family from as far away as Texas), and old school buddies (my husband’s old college friends’ happy hours). Over Christmas I also connected via Zoom with family members I hadn’t seen in years. None of this would have happened if we didn’t have a virtual way to gather.

• Homeless animals are much happier. Many animal shelters were cleaned out by families who wanted to adopt a pet during shutdown.

• We’ve rediscovered the outdoors. Shutdown meant that we had to find other ways to entertain ourselves aside from going bowling or to the movies or pubs. So we started walking and hiking and riding our bikes.

• We’ve reconnected with our neighbors. Now everyone says hi when they pass by on their after-dinner walks. This was especially true in the early months of the pandemic. Everyone was just overjoyed to see other faces, even if you did have to move out into the street to pass by.

• We’ve rediscovered hobbies. I have been reading more books and doing more jigsaw puzzles.

• I learned the word “smize.” It means a playful expression with your eyes, or smiling with your eyes. We all do it, but now we’ve learned to recognize it, and know what to call it.

• Pollution is down a lot. I read that the canals in Venice are clear, the reduction of pollution in China has saved thousands of lives, carbon monoxide emissions are down significantly, and the air is so clear near the Himalayas that the mountains are visible for the first time in decades.

• We’ve developed a newfound respect for our essential workers, something which has been sorely lacking.

But I think the best thing that has happened in this last year is that we’ve all increased our generosity and connection to community. We’re supporting local businesses and restaurants. We’re donating to food cupboards and reaching out to community members who are struggling financially. We’re dropping off care packages, offering to shop for our older neighbors, checking on the health and welfare of family members. We’re looking after one another.

Basically, we’ve rediscovered our sense of community. When this pandemic finally leaves us all for good, let’s hope that sense of community does not. We must never forget this time when we really needed one another.

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email me  at missyblog@gmail.com. “Like” this blog on Facebook and follow me on Twitter.

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Follow Me” link on the right side of this page.