The winter of 1967 was a very snowy one in Manhattan, IL, where Val and her family lived in a rather new subdivision set among the local farms. The view shown is from their backyard, looking across the highway to a large and unusual round barn (now a historic landmark). Although this early powder looks picturesque, subsequent storms brought much more snow, as well as winds that piled it into huge drifts, blocking roads, driveways and doors. A bulldozer was even necessary to help residents clear especially large mountains of snow in their drives.