While the Polar Vortex that swooped down through central United States yesterday and brought snow and winter temperatures to a large part of the Country, it had a precedent. The Armistice Day Blizzard of 1940 dropped over 20 inches of snow in MN and several inches in our area of Nebraska. That storm resulted in the loss of nearly 50 lives in the Midwest. I had started keeping a 5-year Diary on my 15th birthday in June of that year. And I noted on 11/11/1940 as follows: "Armistice Day. Having a regular Blizzard. Drifting. John Trouba, Bill Vanis, Adolph and Hattie Walla were here trying to get to Seward". I had noted the rain we received the preceding 2 days and that "it was sleeting as I went to bed" on the 10th. Reading that old Diary is a bit depressing but a reminder of how much progress we have made in our standard of living. We were husking corn by hand and I stayed out of school frequently to help so we could get done by November 30. We spent a lot of time cutting wood which we used to heat our house and fuel the cook stove. We take so many things for granted today for which we need to be thankful.
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