Well we are finally scheduled to get our snow here in southwest Ohio.  I say "finally" but if the storm materiaizes as planned this will actually be a fairly early snow for us.  Forecasts are calling for 3 to 6" to fall between midnight tonight and late tomorrow.   SIGH, inevitably, the snow forecasts set off the mindless stampede to the grocery store.  I'm not quite sure what a loaf of bread and a gallon of milk will do to ward off the storm, but that seems to be the course of action for most locals here.  All the while the local TV stations fan the flames of panic by hyping it up even more.  And add to that the fact that I'm sure those of you who actually get REAL snow are laughing at us.  I'm sure schools across the area will shut their doors tomorrow.

The snowstorm that continues to be the "gold standard" that all others are measured against in this area is "The Blizzard of 78."  I was five years old when that event occurred and not even living in the country so I have always lamented the fact that I missed out on The Big One.  Lovina Eicher - who pens the Amish Cook column - remembers being snowed in for days and days after the Blizzard of `78.  Yet the cows still needed milking, the only problem is the milk truck couldn't stop by to make the daily pick up.  So Lovina says for days they were filling every conceivable container with milk until the milk truck finally made an appearance a week later.

There have been other bad storms here.  The "Christmas Storm" of 2005 paralyzed our area for days.   But beyond that, it is 78 that casts the longest shadow.  Is this the storm that most others out in blogland remember? Or is there another one that sets the standard in your part of the country?  Okay, gotta go to the grocery store to get some milk!