December 16, 1982 - A 'Snow-Bound' Sunday AfternoonDecember 16,1982 fit mouffoth Arimto Page9A
A 'Snow - Bound' Sunday Afternoon
"The sun that brief December day
"Rose cheerless over hills of gray, "
We awoke Saturday morning to find tiny
flakes of snow in the air. Our plan was to
go by train to New York, take in a show
and do a little Christmas shopping. It was
an ominous sort of day that gave you the
feeling something more was ahead --
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something unusual was going to happen.
When we arrived at the Cutchogue station,
there was a lineup of cars on both sides for
the annual Christmas special.
Almost all the stops on the Long Island
Rail Road have been reduced to mere
signposts. Gone are the days of glowing
pot - bellied stoves, filigree trimmed station
houses and station masters who stood vigil
over the Western Union key. Gone are the
great iron horses, engines that billowed
huge plumes of smoke and steam. Now in
their place are the deep purring diesels
that have little charm.
Through grime- covered windows we
watched the backside of farms pass by.
Now most of the land was asleep -- retired
for the winter. A quick stop at Mattituck
and then on to Riverhead, where excited
voices of young children rushed to get
aboard. They, too, were going to'the big
city. Fathers, mothers, big sisters, and
brothers herded their own small group into
waiting seats. The restless ones were not
content with just any old seat. They would
have to roam and explore before they
settled down.
Now the farmland gave way to endless
stretches of the pine barrens. Occasionally
we could see ponds and marshes
characteristic of Calverton and
Manorville. By the time we reached the
mid -way point in our trip, the west end had
truly engulfed us. Houses, dingy shopping
centers and a conglomerate of ugliness
took over.
The train rumbled on, swaying and
bouncing like something out of control. I do
believe the ride on the old iron horse years
ago was smoother. Then somewhere along
the line the train leveled off and glided as
smoothly as if we were transferred to a
magic carpet. Surely they must have laid
new track along that stretch.
The snow was still falling when we
reached New York. Everywhere people
bundled in coats with vapored breath were
pushing here and there on their Christmas
quest. Store windows in some of the shops
were exquisite, while others gave a crude
rendition of the Christmas spirit. How can
such a holiday be so misused by some?
After some shopping and a bite to eat, we
walked to the Majestic Theater, taking in
the smell of roasting chestnuts and hot
bagels along with the contrasting hissing
steams from manholes in the streets. How
true the wording is about New York -- a
melting pot -- a goulash -- of everyone and
everything, and yet there's a strange
fascination about the city.
To Rockefeller Plaza
After the show we headed over to see the
handsome 70 -foot Christmas tree in all its
splendor with the silent skaters gliding
over the ice below. Then we took a bus
downtown to look for a place to eat. The
snow tried to cover the area with its white,
but the footsteps and car tracks destroyed
its effort. At one time the Empire State
Building was lost in a cloud of white.
People's hair and coats glistened with
colored reflections of sparkling snow. It
was the catalyst that gave the day a
Christmas holiday feeling.
The trip home was uneventful.
Chattering children and steamed -up
windows passed town after town until once
again familiar names rang out:
"Riverhead -- next stop." How pleasant it
sounded. It seemed like we'd been gone a
long time. Then Mattituck. Then
Cutchogue, where we stepped out in a
world of snow.
"A night made hoary with the swarm
"And whirl -dance of the blinding
storm, "
The headlights brought driving flakes of
FIRST SNOW - -After one of the warmest falls we can remember, cold and snow suddenly grip the East End.
snow tunnel -like into our vision. Christmas
trees decked with lights glared in a
combination of color through the milky
snow. In the car in the garage with the
motor off, we were left for the first time
since early morning in a world void of
man -made sounds.
"A chill no coat, however stout,
"Of homespun stuff could quite
shut out,
"A hard, dull bitterness of cold,"
At home the radio predicted a heavy
snowfall, with the temperature dropping
below the teens.
"Meanwhile, we did our nightly
chores, --
"Brought in the wood from out of
doors, "
The house had cooled down but in no
time a crackling fire was warming up our
hearts. With the prediction of snow and
cold still to come, I ventured out into the
swirling snow to bring in a good supply of
Rotary Food Drive
RIVERHEAD- -The Riverhead Rotary
Club currently is conducting a Christmas
food drive of its own. Donations of canned
goods and non - perishable foods may be
taken to Garsten Motors on Route 58,
where they should be deposited in the
pick -up truck parked in front of the
showroom.
The drive runs through Monday, Dec. 20,
and the food will be distributed to local
churches and civic groups on Dec. 23.
Deserving families who wish to receive
donations of food should contact their
church or call the following: Andy Kirsch
(727- 3065), Irwin Garston (727 -0555) or
Rev. A. Charles McElroy (369- 2255).
Bible Exhibition
RIVERHEAD - -A new exhibition entitled
"Our Ancestors and the word of the Lord"
opened in the Staas Room of the Suffolk
County Historical Society Museum on Dec.
5. The exhibition will draw examples of
18th and 19th century Bibles from the
collection of the society. The exhibition
will focus on aspects of American Bible
production, use and decoration during two
centuries. The program will examine the
use of the Bible as a family record,
illustrated Bibles, the mass distribution of
Bibles by tract societies, and the part they
played in society. The exhibition will run
until May, 1983.
The society is located at 300 West Main
Street in Riverhead. Museum hours are
12:30 to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Satur-
day. For more information, call 727 -2881.
wood. Then we turned in, weary but happy
to be home.
"So all night long the storm roared
on:
"The morning broke without a sun; "
That night the wind howled in the trees
above the house, heralding in the cold and
snow. By morning we could see from the
direction of the storm we were going to
have a day at home.
"We looked upon a world unknown,
"On nothing we could call our own. "
Close to the Hearth
We sat at the window as if in a spell,
watching the winter cover the land. It was
a day for making Christmas cookies and
pot roast simmering on the wood stove.
"The old horse thrust his long head
out,
"And grave with wonder gazed
about; "
But first the animals must be fed and
watered. Bundled up with head down, I
Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
pushed into the storm. Bursting ahead in
wild excitement went the dog.
The calm of a stable during a storm
always amazes me. The heat of the
animals, the quiet, the whirling snow
outside throws a spell over you. There's
something special in the air.
Back at the house small birds drifted
into the brush nearby the feeder and
gleaned what they could from the
windblown seed. The cardinal came in to
survey the area standing on one foot and
then the other to keep the other warm
under his crimson coat. All day the snow
came down. It was winter again.
"No cloud above, no earth below, --
"A universe of sky and snow!
"The old familiar sights of ours
"Took marvelous shapes; strange
domes and towers"
"All passages from "Snow- Bound" by
John Greenleaf Whittier.
PAULSTOUTENBURGH
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