Snowy Day
It snowed all day yesterday. It snowed sideways all day yesterday. But it must have just been the same snow blowing around in circles, because when I peeked out the window at the parking lot at the end of the day, the streets were clear and there was barely a dusting of snow on my car. Since the last storm prediction I’d heard was 4-8 inches, I assumed we’d get the four and didn’t take my laptop home.
Fast forward to today. I peek out the bedroom window when I get up and yes, we’ve got a couple of inches of snow. While I’m getting dressed I hear a truck drive past, which I assume is the plow guy. I was wrong. I exit Frogholme this morning to discover three inches of snow on the sidewalk, and easily four inches on the parking lot. Eight or nine inches piled on top of Tripp. It took me probably 15-20 minutes to clear him off.
Now, I love driving in the snow. It’s a challenge. I don’t even mind fishtailing, as long as there’s no one near me to hit. So today was the sort of day I really like. Most people stayed home, so there were minimal cars on the roads. Driving was slick, the roads all had a layer of snow on them. But I’ve driven in much worse. Today there were tracks where you could see the street. There was a storm back in the mid-90s when I was teaching where it was coming down hard and I stayed at school to grade papers, figuring the commute would be better if I waited until rush hour was over and there were less cars on the road. Except that when I left school around 7 or 8 p.m., they hadn’t even plowed the roads. I was driving down I-95 South with at least four inches of snow on the highway. The only reason I was able to even figure out where the road was to stay on it was because there were piles of snow along the edges. I figured as long as I stayed between the mounds of snow, I was still on the highway. I passed three sets of plows going the other direction, but never once saw a plow on my side of the road, with its deep layer of snow. That was a hairy drive home.
My commute in today was easy. Usually it takes me anywhere between 30 and 45 minutes to get into Burlington, depending on the traffic. Today it took me 40 minutes. So, typical commute time. I was doing between 30 and 40 on the highway, slower when I was in a clump of cars, a little faster when it was just me and there wasn’t anyone near me to do something stupid that might make me brake suddenly.
It’s still coming down hard. But Tripp is parked in the parking garage, so I won’t have to clear him off again. Hopefully the plow crews are out all day and the ride home is even better than the ride in. If not, I’ll still enjoy the challenge.
Fast forward to today. I peek out the bedroom window when I get up and yes, we’ve got a couple of inches of snow. While I’m getting dressed I hear a truck drive past, which I assume is the plow guy. I was wrong. I exit Frogholme this morning to discover three inches of snow on the sidewalk, and easily four inches on the parking lot. Eight or nine inches piled on top of Tripp. It took me probably 15-20 minutes to clear him off.
Now, I love driving in the snow. It’s a challenge. I don’t even mind fishtailing, as long as there’s no one near me to hit. So today was the sort of day I really like. Most people stayed home, so there were minimal cars on the roads. Driving was slick, the roads all had a layer of snow on them. But I’ve driven in much worse. Today there were tracks where you could see the street. There was a storm back in the mid-90s when I was teaching where it was coming down hard and I stayed at school to grade papers, figuring the commute would be better if I waited until rush hour was over and there were less cars on the road. Except that when I left school around 7 or 8 p.m., they hadn’t even plowed the roads. I was driving down I-95 South with at least four inches of snow on the highway. The only reason I was able to even figure out where the road was to stay on it was because there were piles of snow along the edges. I figured as long as I stayed between the mounds of snow, I was still on the highway. I passed three sets of plows going the other direction, but never once saw a plow on my side of the road, with its deep layer of snow. That was a hairy drive home.
My commute in today was easy. Usually it takes me anywhere between 30 and 45 minutes to get into Burlington, depending on the traffic. Today it took me 40 minutes. So, typical commute time. I was doing between 30 and 40 on the highway, slower when I was in a clump of cars, a little faster when it was just me and there wasn’t anyone near me to do something stupid that might make me brake suddenly.
It’s still coming down hard. But Tripp is parked in the parking garage, so I won’t have to clear him off again. Hopefully the plow crews are out all day and the ride home is even better than the ride in. If not, I’ll still enjoy the challenge.