A Blog of Flashbacks

Day after Blizzard Day and More

December 2025

I sit indoors watching day after blizzard day in Juneau, Alaska. So far, three ferries have been cancelled due to bad seas. We just got another call. Four ferries cancelled. Bad seas are something like 13-foot seas, 30-knot winds, and freezing spray. Fortunately, we have a comfortable place to stay—an apartment on the ground level of our son’s house. We look out the window to see wind blowing hour after hour day after day. Wind clears the driveway, builds drifts in other places, sends me out for a very short walk, and children out to play. If I had a snowsuit, I’d be out there with them.  

We watch Seth plow his driveway again. He removes the berm where the drive connects to the road. He plows the sides back more. The wind keeps the driveway clear. I want to go for a walk, but the wind is too strong. I gave my warmest winter jacket to a Kansas fifth grade student of mine 29 years ago. He and his brothers who waited at the bus stop in thin jackets in +7 windy degrees—no idea what the wind chill was. In Topeka, he needed it more than I. The jacket’s hood that folded out to protect the face had a wolf fur ruff. I once wore it for a two-block walk in a -65 degree wind chill. I bought jackets for his little brothers.

It's beautiful outside. The soft light of dusk approaches. Soon it will be dark. Maybe I’ll try for another walk up the road and back. I just came from Savannah and thus, didn’t bring my long underwear on this trip. I never expected to be stuck in Juneau this long.

I find my thoughts wander to the homeless here, in Anchorage, and Fairbanks. I hope they have a place to stay indoors on days and nights like this. A warm blanket or two even if they are indoors. To sleep outside, a person could freeze to death. School is closed today.

Meanwhile, I sit inside and work. I shift my thinking to what I’m writing. I read about Dostoevsky, Flaubert, and Agatha Christie, all of whom who had epilepsy not related to substance abuse. Dostoevsky and Flaubert were born in 1821; thus, I conclude, diagnosis was definitive then. Another writer, Kurt Eichenwald, who wrote for the New York Times, and has written several nonfiction books is still alive, younger than I am. Let’s not be secretive about this thing called epilepsy or any other disability.

How many people have disabilities? According to the CDC (Center for Disease Control), a quarter of the adult population have physical, sensory, cognitive, or mental health disabilities. That’s a lot. I was surprised at the number of the adult population. About 15% of children have a disability, again some hidden and some apparent to an onlooker. I know the number of children because I worked in special education for decades. The number of children increased from 1965 to today, some of that due to better diagnostic techniques, and perhaps awareness, environmental pollutants such as lead poisoning, or other unknown factors.  

Some disabilities we can see, some are hidden from the view of others. Some of the hidden ones include epilepsy, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), deafness, autism, chronic pain, and at least 12 more.  I remember when I was working on my master’s degree in special education in the 1960s, my advisor saying that whatever the disability was, it was important only so we could get them into the box of special education. A diagnosis didn’t necessarily tell us the best way to teach them.

Now it is the next morning and still it snows, but the wind has subsided. Oh, maybe not. I just looked out the window and snow swirls in indecipherable patterns.

As I look at the snow and wind today or remember the thunderstorms and tornadoes of the Midwest, I wish I knew about meteorology. Instead, I spent my life working with people. To get the correct diagnosis and then the educational plan can be as complex as predicting the weather. A distinct difference between teaching and meteorology is that I have control over my teaching and the student’s learning. If I make a mistake, I can change my teaching error. A student not learning tells me I need to change something. Meteorologists gather information and make predictions. If they’re wrong, they can’t change the weather.

The snow still falls. Cold and snow still make winter my favorite season.