Blizzard of 2013

Friday Night

I stayed home from work Friday. After the trouble I had getting home after the comparatively minor snowstorm the week before, I figured I'd be better off respecting the power of a blizzard.

By 11 p.m., the plow had come up our street (the wrong way) several times, but the snow was piling up fast. It didn't seem too bad at this point.

Friday night, 11 p.m.

Saturday Morning

So much for "not too bad" -- this is a LOT of snow!

Same view as the photo above, seven hours later,
and everything is covered in thick blanket of snow.

Looking the other direction from the porch. The neighbor's car was
last shoveled out around midnight, so it's not as badly buried.

Conditions were still pretty brutal all morning. The snow had stopped falling, but
the wind was still creating near-white out conditions every so often.

The snow in the front yard was hip deep. It was a little like wading
through water. I felt like I ought to be able to dive in and start swimming.

Hey look! It's our car!

Saturday Afternoon

Shoveling was very discouraging. There's nowhere to put the snow. Our yard is too small to hold all of it without piling it up taller than ourselves, which is not an easy thing to do.

Eventually I noticed that there was a car in the middle of the road, preventing plows from getting down our street. Or, rather, UP our street, since the plow truck was driving the wrong way.
Probably something to do with his route and the fact that there really
should not have been anyone else trying to drive in the middle of the blizzard.

By early afternoon, a decent foot path was being developed, going down the middle of the street.

Later in the day, I ventured up to Oak Street to see what a plowed street looked like. Not so good. Instead of two lanes, there was only one. You can see that there simply is too much snow and nowhere for it to go.

My back yard, with a six foot drift in the corner.

Icicles dripping slowly.

The wind made some interesting patterns in the snow.

Sunday Afternoon

By Sunday afternoon, people were starting to get cranky, worrying about how they would get to work Monday, and how much trouble they will be in with their bosses if they can't get to work. People wondered why our street hasn't been plowed, and rumors about Town Plot being completely plowed out began to spread. The prevailing opinion was that our street, and our neighborhood, had been forgotten somehow. I decided it was time to go for a walk to see what conditions elsewhere really were like.

A couple of neighbors put a huge effort into clearing out their cars, resulting in a small open area.

Most of Wood Street is still buried, except for
the well-worn foot path.

I think it's fair to say that Young Street hasn't seen a plow at all.

Wood Street on the other side of Walnut is only slightly better than
my stretch of Wood Street. If it weren't for that darn car abandoned
in the middle of the road, this is probably what my street would look like.

Walnut Street, a main artery, looking very narrow.

Rose Street

People are wondering about school this week. This is Dikeman Street and Walsh School.
No school for a few days, I think. Unless we want the kids to honestly say
they walked to school uphill both ways in the snow.

Welton Street approaching East Main Street.

Kenyon Street, off Welton Street. It reminds me of an obstacle course.

Welton Street at East Main Street. You can see the Buffalo Wild Wings "tower" in the distance. The street is slippery, especially at the intersection. The car in this photo was one of several that spun their tires and wobbled all over the road in the span of five minutes.

East Main Street, one of the busiest roads in the city, looking very slippery. If you don't have all-wheel drive and snow tires, you're better off staying at home or on foot for a few more days.

East Main Street. Hard, compacted snow = ice; plus some slush = very slippery!
Pedestrians need to walk carefully, partly so they don't fall, partly so they know
when to get out of the way of a car that's sliding toward them.

I think McDonald's is open, but getting there isn't easy.

The weather forecast is calling for rain and freezing rain tonight and tomorrow morning.
Flat roofs are in danger of collapse. Flooding is going to be really bad too.

East Main Street. All the bodegas, corner stores, etc. seem to be open.

Another reason to keep your car off the streets, if you can. The plows need room to do their jobs.

The plow drivers have been at this for 48 hours straight so far. The city called in every contractor they could, plus heavy equipment from construction companies. The plow crews won't be getting time off for days to come. They're tired and frustrated. It doesn't help that people get mad at them when they do their job. If they don't plow a street, everyone is mad at them. When they do plow a street, everyone gets mad about the snow being pushed up on the sides in front of driveways and next to cars. This is the worst snowstorm we've had since 1978; I wish people could be a little more patient and compassionate, instead of ranting and raving at the people who are doing a good job in an extremely bad situation. Thank you to everyone who is out there plowing!

This is why the side streets haven't been done yet. The main roads are still being worked on.
When there's this much snow, it takes much longer to get the job done.

Wolcott Street. Not pretty, especially when there's a car stopped at on the side of the road.
I wasn't brave enough to try walking up Wolcott Street. It's too narrow and too congested.

You can see why the Hartford Archdiocese decided that Catholics don't have to go to church today.
This is the parking lot for Sacred Heart church.

This is the guy who is trying to clear the Sacred Heart church parking lot. I think he
needs some assistance. That's a very big parking lot for one little snow blower.

Someone having fun in the snow.

Wall Street at the intersection with Walnut Avenue. Sometimes there's one and a half lanes, sometimes only one lane, sometimes it's more like half a lane.

Wall Street, heading uphill toward Oak Street. Normally a two-lane road.

Wall Street, looking at the intersection with Oak Street.
The green car is parked on the "side" of the road, waiting for
someone to come out of a house.

Impasse at the top of Wall Street. The smaller vehicle wound up driving backwards
until there was a spot to pull over, out of the way of the bigger vehicle.

The view from near the top of Wall Street, which normally has two lanes.

Determined shovelers on Oak Street. I have no idea where they're going to put all that snow.

Got a giant pile of snow? Might as well set up lawn chairs on top
and do some lounging. This is outside Caruso's store on Oak Street.

Loose dog at the top of Rose Street.

City dump trucks are busy plowing. Once again, here's a good reason to stay off the roads if you can. The plows need room to work, and many streets are too narrow for a big plow and regular cars to pass each other without damage. We're in a state of emergency. Leave the car at home.

If you do go out in a car, you need all-wheel drive to navigate safely. It's a narrow, slushy mess.

Wood Street is one of the worst, all because of the car that was abandoned in the middle of the road.
A small plow isn't powerful enough to clear this out at this point. A big plow won't fit. We're going to need heavy construction equipment to dig us out.

One bit of good news for Wood Street--the owner of the abandoned car finally returned
and moved his car out of the way, in part thanks to other people who dug it out.

Sunday Night

The top chunk of Wood Street has been partly dug out, thanks to a group of about ten men,
equipped with nothing more than shovels and a small snow blower. Awesome job guys!

Back to work after a brief food break, supplied by the owner of the corner store and one
of the guy's mother. The whole thing started when the guy in the red hoodie wanted to
shovel out his car and asked for help. They're taking turns shoveling out each other's cars.
Real teamwork, real camaraderie, real great stuff.

Monday Morning

Freezing rain is making the snow heavy and icy. Tempers are flaring among people who don't understand why the city hasn't finished plowing the streets yet. The Mayor got on the radio and announced that more than 1000 streets (out of 1304) have been plowed, with a little under 200 left to be done. My street is still buried, but numbers like that suggest we'll be dug out soon.

More shoveling, this time in the rain. Some of the same crew from last night, with a few new people pitching in. One guy was able to get a private plow to do a quick pass at the area the shovelers had dug out, helping their effort. There's been some shoveling going on behind the row houses as well. Most of the street is still buried, but at least now some of us can get out.

Monday Night

Turns out to have been a very good thing that a lane was opened up at the top of my street. Down in New Haven, my sister's apartment ran out of heating oil and the oil delivery truck wasn't able to fit down her street. She has two little kids and didn't want them shivering in the cold all night. I shoveled the snow off the top of the Subaru and headed down to New Haven.

I debated which route to take -- play it safe and take Route 8 all the way to I-95? stick to my regular choice of Route 69? I decided to chance 69. For the most part, it was fine. The road was completely shut down in Prospect. A group of us formed a caravan and followed a tow truck which knew the way around the road block. Back on 69, in Bethany, the northbound lane was still buried under snow for a brief distance. And there was incredible fog, making the drive that much more challenging.

New Haven was just as bad, if not worse, than Waterbury.

Whalley Avenue, normally four lanes, reduced to sort of two lanes, depending on where cars are parked and whether or not there's a median or center turn lane.

Thanks to the rain, a typical driveway is a mixture of slush, ice and
several inches of water. If I had taken my car, with front wheel drive
and lousy tires, I would definitely have gotten stuck and probably
would have smashed into a snowbank.

The small side street that the oil delivery truck can't drive.

The larger side street that is also problematic. This is at the intersection of Whalley Avenue.

Route 69 is the right-hand lane, the one that's half-buried in snow.

When I finally got home, three hours later, I was both happy and a little disappointed to see that my street had been plowed. Disappointed because I wasn't there to see (and photograph) our liberator. I was told that we were plowed out by a giant payloader, nearly two stories tall. Amazingly, it was just barely narrow enough to fit down our street. The whole thing was done in minutes.


Tuesday Morning

It's almost over, right? I still wouldn't try driving anywhere in Waterbury without all-wheel drive. Most of the two-way side streets are extra narrow and require at least some driving in snow. Intersections are slushy. The end of my street will not be kind to front-wheel drive: there's a swath of thick slush that will send tires spinning.

The morning after the plow. The top of the street is looking good, mostly because it was shoveled out by people who live here. With today's sun and warmth, I'm hoping the rest of the snow in the road is melted quickly.

Rose Street is a lot messier. This is a two-way road, on the public bus route. All wheel drive only!

After listening to complaints and reading comments by frustrated people on the Mayor's Facebook page and elsewhere, it seems like there are several distinct categories of complaint related to the blizzard:

"My neighborhood pays some of the highest taxes in town, so we should have been plowed out first."

"I'm an essential state employee/healthcare worker/other special category, so my street should have been plowed out first."

"Someone in my household has medical problems, so my street should have been plowed out first."

"The plow driver made things worse--now I have to shovel out my driveway/walkway again."

"The Mayor/city is responsible for all this snow and is doing a terrible job cleaning it up."

"The wealthier neighborhoods look beautiful. The city did a great job of plowing them out, and they haven't done anything in our neighborhood, so obviously the city/Mayor doesn't like us."

This storm has really pushed people to the breaking point. I haven't heard anyone blame God or Mother Nature, just other people.

You can certainly argue that this is an excellent example of how we've become dependent on government to take care of us, instead of doing things for ourselves. Most streets would have been cleared faster if residents had started shoveling and snow blowing the streets immediately, instead of waiting for the city plows to come through.

For people who are salaried workers, there's not too much stress about missing work because of the storm. For people who are hourly wage earners, who need every penny they make to just barely scrape by, and for people who have completely irrational bosses, this is a very high stress situation.


Tuesday Afternoon

Mayor O'Leary had a brilliant idea. He put out a call for teenagers age 14 and up, and adults, to help shovel out the city schools for minimum wage. The call went out this morning. Hundreds of teenagers and adults showed up at noon, shovels in hand, ready to work. This gives city workers and contractors, who have been on the job nonstop since Friday, some much-needed assistance; it gives people who need some money a chance to earn it; and it gives teenagers the opportunity to become invested in their community and to take responsibility for their schools. The teens could have stayed home watching t.v. or playing video games. They could have spent the day wandering around getting into trouble. Instead, they chose to help their community and work.

I love everything about this!

Photo taken from Mayor O'Leary's Twitter account, showing some
of the 500 people who showed up at City Hall to shovel.

While this is going on, payloaders and plows are still working on digging out the last few streets that are buried in snow. It's been a herculean effort by everyone involved. This was an extraordinary storm, and despite the bitching and moaning from many corners, I think what will stand out is the way Waterbury banded together to get through this.

Things To Do When You're Snowed In

Too many people are focused on the negative aspects of our current snow-bound situation. This is the sort of storm that happens once or twice a century. There's no way of knowing how long you'll be stuck at home, and getting angry isn't going to help. Here are some things you can do instead of ranting and raving and blaming city workers for not being able to keep up with an act of God.

1. Check up on your neighbors.
Make sure everyone is okay and has food. Make sure they know that they can still call 911 for an emergency. If they need to get essential medications, try calling the Waterbury Emergency Control Center at 203-597-3450.

2. Get in a workout from shoveling.
Can't get to the gym? No problem! My arms and legs are sore from shoveling snow yesterday. Make sure you dress in layers and pace yourself. Once you've finished your driveway and sidewalk, and you've done your neighbor's sidewalk, you may as well start shoveling the street. Better still, dig out any cars that were abandoned in the middle of the street. When the plows finally arrive, they'll finish that much faster. Sure, it's not normally your responsibility to shovel the street, but what else have you got to do? Remember, it's a great workout, and we're all in this together.

3. Organize a neighborhood snowball fight. 
The snow is so deep, it's really easy to built a fort. Just dig out a path, and you have an instant trench. Snowball trench warfare!

4. Build snow art. 
Time to get creative! Snow people, snow monsters, snow Nemo.

5. Go sledding.
Haven't got a sled? Use the plastic lid from a storage tub or trash can. Check around the house, there's probably something that will work.

6. Play games.
Board games, card games, computer games, parlor games. There are plenty of websites that have directions for games to keep the whole family entertained.

7. Bake something.
Check your pantry for ingredients. If you're like me, you have supplies left over from holiday cookie baking. Now's a good time to be in the kitchen. Make extra, and share with your neighbors. It will boost everyone's morale.

8. Watch movies.
The obvious choice. Couch potato time.

9. Read.
Read online news articles so you'll know it's just as bad in other cities. Read a novel so you can escape from the snowpocalypse entirely.

10. Tell stories.
Were you around for the Blizzard of 1978? Share the story with younger family members. Have other memorable life experiences? Share them too. For that matter, if you're so inclined, try making up stories or put on a play. Sounds silly, but you'll have fun.

11. Have a sing-a-long.
Why not? Singing is fun, will cheer you up, and will chew up time.

12. Clean and organize.
You know that closet you keep meaning to clean out? Those boxes you keep meaning to sort through? The thorough dusting and mopping you know you need to do? Now's the time.

13. Get caught up on sleep.
You'll be completely relaxed by the time you're able to return to work. Considering that you'll likely have a lot of work to get caught up on, it's a good idea to get some rest now. Think of it as a mini-vacation.

14. Work from home.
This one's all me. I'm sort of jealous of friends who are able to stay home and not work, but I'm a workaholic and I've got deadlines.

15. Plan ahead.
Your schedule has been disrupted. Check the calendar to see what needs to be rescheduled (like my cat's spay surgery, currently scheduled for Tuesday).

16. Be grateful for what you have.
Still have power? Stuck someplace warm? Have food? Be grateful. Sure, this is an annoying inconvenience, but that's all it is. We will get through this, and we will get through this better with kindness than with animosity.

Shahi Zaika

After all these years of blogging, it finally occurred to me that I haven't been blogging about restaurants, even though Waterbury's diversity of restaurants is one of the reasons I love living here. So, starting now, I will take photographs and write blog posts whenever I eat at a Waterbury restaurant. I have no training in reviewing food, and I make no pretensions to be a professional restaurant reviewer. This is just me, telling you what I ate and why I liked it.

We did take-out from Shahi Zaika last weekend. If you haven't been there, it's in the East Gate Plaza (Store Avenue, off Meriden Road). The restaurant is diner-style, the food is spicy! Pakistani and Indian cuisine. I highly recommend the tandoori dishes.

Our medley of food below (clockwise from the top):  Mutter Keema (ground chicken with peas, onions, tomatoes, spices); Bhindi Masala (okra); Vegetable Samosa; Aloo Palak (spinach and potatoes cooked Punjabi style); rice with vegetables; and Chicken Tikka in the center. Not shown in the photo is the Naan.

Shahi Zaika is not your standard Indian restaurant (partly because it's more Pakistani). It's also not an upscale, artsy restaurant. It's more of the classic Waterbury restaurant started by immigrants, for immigrants, which means the recipes haven't been modified to please American palates. There are a lot of places like this in Waterbury, representing a wide variety of immigrant groups. The prices are reasonable, and the food is delicious!

Blodgett's Brothel

In today's issue of the Republican-American, there was yet another article, with mug shots, about prostitutes arrested in the Hillside neighborhood. This seems to be a never-ending situation. For at least two decades now, certain streets in the Hillside neighborhood have been in use by prostitutes looking for "jobs." Every so often, the police do a sweep and make arrests, followed by the printing of mug shots in the newspaper. Once in a great while, the "johns" are arrested, and their names and addresses are published in the paper.

Back in the old days, things were different. The Hillside neighborhood was filled with the wealthiest people in Waterbury, members of high society who did their best to appear respectable and genteel. Appearances were blown apart in 1873, when a scandal involving a "house of ill-fame" (polite phrasing for a brothel) exploded in Waterbury.

According to the November 19, 1873 issue of the Norwich Aurora newspaper, the scandal began when the son of a leading Waterbury manufacturer (no names given) fell in love with and married a "lady of the house of joy." His family pleaded with him, and even attempted to bribe him, to divorce his "tainted bride," but he refused. About a week later, the owners of two Waterbury brothels were arrested: Henry Austin and Dave Blodgett.

The Aurora claimed that the scandalous love affair blossomed at Blodgett's "house of ill-fame," which was a highly profitable business, bringing in (reportedly) $50,000 over three years. In 1873, that was a small fortune.

I've read through the microfilm copy of the Waterbury American (available at the Silas Bronson Library) to find the local version of the story. The American was extraordinarily tactful, and also declined to publish the names of members of polite society involved in the scandal.

The story began in the papers on November 4, 1873, with the following account in the American:

For quite a length of time, it has been generally known that houses of ill-fame were kept at a distance of two or three miles east of the city, and that our young men, and old men, too, resorted thither. Dame Rumor says that if all who went there were known, some people wouldn't be considered as respectable as they are now.  Of the truth of this, we are unable to vouch, and we would not strike in the dark and thereby, perhaps, cause unjust suspicions. Those who have been there are probably aware of the fact, and they must answer to their own consciences. Although for many years these bawdy houses have been the curse of Waterbury, this is the first time they have been molested since our acquaintance with this city. Complaints having been made to John O'Neill, Esq., assistant city attorney, he caused the arrest of Hobart Austin and David Blodgett, who are the proprietors of these houses. ... "Out East" has been disreputable long enough, and the neighbors will rejoice that their air may become pure once more. To those who think it smart to be styled "fast young men," we would suggest that now is a good time to reform and save character and reputation. Wild oats are never a profitable crop, and the frequenting of bawdy houses is the worst oat in the lot.

Hobart Austin was arraigned first, on November 4, 1873. He had previously lived on Plank Road, but had recently relocated to a nearby location. Ministers and physicians testified that Austin's place had a reputation for being "of ill-fame," although none admitted to having first-hand knowledge of what went on there. Witnesses were called from the courtroom audience (only half a dozen were present, many others were not). None of the witnesses admitted to first-hand knowledge of what went on at Austin's (nor could they say whether it was Austin or his wife who ran the brothel), only that they "heard there were girls out there." Austin was found guilty that same day and was sentenced to 30 days in jail.

The trials of David Blodgett and his wife Annie, who lived on Plank Road, dragged on for much longer and involved much more scandal.

Blodgett's Trial

The Blodgett trial began on November 5, with somewhere between 50 and 100 witnesses subpoenaed, a large audience of spectators, and at least one person stationed at the door to prevent young boys from listening in.

David Blodgett was charged with "keeping a house where idle and dissolute persons resort," living in a house of ill-fame, and frequenting a house of ill-fame. The defense attorney protested the charge of frequenting.

Blodgett's neighbors were the first to testify against him. One neighbor suggested that Blodgett's wife, Annie Bishop (also called Annie Wilson), was not actually married to him. Another neighbor, a lady who had recently moved to a different street, had no idea that he was operating a brothel. Several neighbors testified that the girls living at Blodgett's boarding house had reputations of being loose, but for the most part, the neighborhood witnesses stated that the house and its residents were "not disorderly or noisy." They may have had bad reputations, but they weren't disruptive to neighborhood life. The Blodgetts paid their bills in a timely fashion and were generally good neighbors.

The trial heated up a bit on the afternoon of November 7, when young men who had been "out to Blodgett's" testified. The details of their testimony were not included in the newspaper account, most likely because it would be far too indecent for public sensibilities of that era. The American left it with "Another witness was honest enough to answer that it would be hard telling how many times he had been out there."

By November 8, witness had begun scattering to the far winds. One went hunting, another went to New Haven, another to Winsted, and one hopped the train to New York that morning to avoid the public embarrassment of answering questions about visiting a brothel. Six witnesses had the courage to appear in court, but they all refused to answer questions about the girls at Blodgett's, on the grounds that they would incriminate themselves.

The Norwich Aurora went into more creative detail as to the whereabouts of the witnesses who skipped town:

The married and faithless ones are flying over the country in all directions, ostensibly on account of the panic. Some of them, pretending to have rheumatism, have gone to the hot springs of Arkansas. One of them departed yesterday, leaving word with his wife that he was going to New York to see a long lost brother from the Sandwich Islands. Society in Waterbury is in a perfect fever.... So far only a few witnesses have presented themselves, but not a single married man has been netted yet. Some of the leading heads of families have all of a sudden bethought themselves that the season for shooting wild ducks in Maine is at hand, and have departed in that direction. (November 19, 1873)

On November 12, David Blodgett was found not guilty of keeping and maintaining a disorderly house, not guilty of keeping a house of ill-fame, and not guilty of frequenting a house of ill-fame. He was, however, found guilty of living in a house of ill-fame, guilty of being a bartender and employee in a house of ill-fame. Blodgett was ordered to pay fines totaling $75.

Annie Blodgett's trial for keeping and frequenting a house of ill-fame began as soon as David's trial concluded. A grocer testified that she bought groceries under the name Annie Wilson. Two physicians and a minister testified that they heard her house was a brothel. A neighbor testified that Annie lived in the house, and that he had seen girls sitting on the verandah. Another neighbor testified that the girls had a bad reputation. Annie, like David, was found not guilty of keeping and maintaining a house of ill-fame. She was found guilt of frequenting a house of ill-fame and was sentenced to pay a fine of $25.

After the Trial

I can't say for certain what happened to the Blodgetts and their business after the scandalous trial. The 1880 census shows them running a boarding house with four young women boarders, all dressmakers. The City Directory also listed the Blodgett home on Plank Road as a boarding house.

Dave Blodgett died in 1889, and his house was sold to Thomas H. Hayes. The infamous house burned to the ground in 1907, by which time history had been thoroughly rewritten. No longer remembered as a house of ill-fame, it was "one of the landmarks of the country," known as "the old Blodgett tavern."

A description of the house appeared in the Bridgeport Herald after the fire: "The house contained twenty-two rooms, all of which were elegantly furnished. ... For many years, it was one of the most popular taverns in that part of the state and some of the greatest men in the country have been guests there."

Brass City Market

During my last round of holiday grocery shopping, I finally remembered to stop by the new Brass City Market on Field Street.  I'm a slow learner when it comes to adding a new stop on my errands list. I'm a big fan of the Farmers' Market on the Green in the summers, so I was delighted to hear that a year-round indoors farmers' market was opening downtown.

Brass City Market is a program of Brass City Harvest. Check out their website for the latest info on the many good things they do. You can also follow the Brass City Market on Facebook, where they post the latest new produce to arrive.

In case you haven't gone to check it out yet, here are some photos of what you might find. Since it's a farmers' market, the fresh produce will vary depending on the season.

The entrance from the parking lot on Field Street, opposite City Hall.

Holiday Windows

Time for the annual photos of holiday window decorations downtown! Every year, Main Street Waterbury's Design Committee encourages downtown businesses to get into the festive spirit of the season with a Holiday Window Decoration competition.

A couple of businesses, like Tony's Men's Shop and Ideal Jewelers, have tried and true designs they use every year. Others, like Shakesperience Productions and John Bale Books, seem to do something completely different every year.

The challenge for the businesses is to create an eye-catching, well-designed window display that is festive and incorporates their unique identity. Some businesses have enormous windows, some have small windows, some have tinted windows; all have their own challenges for design.

Here is a sampling of some of what's downtown this year.

City lamp post wreaths on Bank Street. The city decorations, especially
the ones on the Green, took a bad hit this year. The shed they were stored in
was broken into and the decorations were vandalized.

Braza on Bank Street.

Part of the window display at the Palace Theater on East Main Street.
This was the Palace's first year entering the Main Street Waterbury competition.

Rendezvous on South Main Street.

Something Old, Something New on Bank Street.

Shakesperience Productions on Bank Street.

The Connecticut Store on Bank Street.

One of Connecticut Dance Theater's windows on Bank Street.

Connecticut Dance Theater's other window on Bank Street.

Princess Lingerie's candy theme on Grand Street.

John Bale Books, complete with a small tree made out of books (on the left), on Grand Street.

The Joba Cafe within the John Bale Books display.