Why does it always seem way too early for this?
Last winter -- which I generally prefer not to talk about -- didn't hit us until later and it felt way too soon for that. So, getting walloped like this at the end of November / beginning of December just seems plain cruel.
The winter that I prefer not to talk about was the worst one I can remember. But maybe it's just because it was the worst one during the time I've been a homeowner, so the shoveling, the ice dams and the rest made it the worst for me ever.
The result is that all day yesterday I feared the onslaught. While, it wasn't as bad as it could have been, I went to bed with false hopes last night. Despite the reports, there was very little snow on the ground on Milwaukee's West Side. I know folks to the north and west got hit a lot harder. People within a mile or two of the lake got off relatively easy ... or so I hear.
But I awoke to plenty. Sure, it wasn't the potential 10 inches or more that had been threatened, but it was probably about half that and very, very wet. The result was that I did little but shovel between getting out of bed and pulling away from the garage this morning.
The drive wasn't nearly as bad as I expected, either, especially once I made it to the freeway, which was pretty clear and, although crowded, pretty fast moving.
Lafayette Hill, which rises up the bluff just to the west of McKinley Marina was mysteriously closed, causing a detour, but who can really complain about that?
It's snowing as I write this and the blowing is expected to continue all morning, so I'm sure more shoveling it on tap for the afternoon.
This snow hit before I could get someone out to help me prevent the ice dams again this year. He's coming later in the week. Hopefully, he'll be able to check out the situation and get us sorted out before the next one comes.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
