It's the fifth anniversary of the Blizzard of 2017. Much of our area received more than two feet of snow, and it was simply an awful time.
In a way, I was extremely fortunate. I was assigned to be the morning "metro" reporter, which meant that I stayed in the valley cities. Others on the staff were dispatched to far flung sections of our coverage area. After a quick caucus with the staff, it was decided I report from Public Square in downtown Wilkes-Barre. Wonderful! A photographer and I worked out of our Wyoming Valley Newsroom, meaning we had access to a warm and dry office, plus a bathroom between live reports.
The real fun followed when Newswatch 16 This Morning ended. We began the slow trek to home base in Moosic, reporting on what we encountered along the way. Our truck became stuck in the snow three times, the last incident taking place when were getting off the Moosic exit of Interstate 81 north. I had a full plate of assignments and recordings back at the office to worry about. Thankfully, snow lover John Hickey was riding past. He rescued me and took me back to the station while the photographer waited for the truck to be plowed out. It didn't take long.
I took care of all my assignments back at the office. There was no way I was getting home, so it was a trudge through the snow to one of the hotels next door. As I gathered with my coworkers in the hotel lobby, I remember looking up in the solarium, watching the snow, and thinking it was never going to stop.
I was off the next day, which was a good thing, because I slept horribly. I packed up my stuff and headed back to the station very early in the morning. It was quiet. Everything that could have been canceled was called off the day before. The phones were dead.
The snow stopped. I dug my car out in the parking lot. Interstate 81 wasn't great, but I was passable, and I was in a hurry to get home. There was no traffic, so the ride home was relatively easy. My own bed never felt so good.
