Driving in winter and a happy, lonely valentine
I admit to being somewhat sore from the shoveling of ice off my driveway. . . but these things happen in winter.
You know the other thing that happens in winters in Ohio?
Yep, that's right: Snow gets on the roads.
See, it's this weird thing: when the temperature drops, precipitation that is normally liquid turns into beautiful little crystals of white death!
Oh, you have options:
Anyway, as I was driving home on Tuesday through the ice that was covering the downy snow, I realized that I was thankful that my first driving experiences came in snow and fog in Chicago traffic.
Indeed, the conditions didn't frighten me at all. As I moved my car from "drive" to "intermediate" and occasionally "low", I smiled to myself. "I'm thankful I know how to drive in this," I thought. I didn't experience a single slip or moment of low traction.
Now, I'm certainly not going to say I'm a perfect winter driver. I've had the occasional bumping of another car when I misjudged ice and speed. But I've avoided major accidents thus far (the worst that has come of those "bumps" is a bit of paint transfer), and the frozen white death from the sky doesn't inspire fear in me. I think that this mostly has to do with the fact that I'm not dumb enough to feel invincible on the roads, and I'm familiar enough with the nuances of driving in snow and on ice to respect but not fear it.
I'm still astounded that an inch of snow can cause major cities to roll over and die (Atlanta is a good example), and that even a foot of snow is somehow unmanageable.
But honestly, the best Valentine's Day ever? Yesterday, when OSU called off its classes and I didn't have to go to work. I slept until noon, got up, and shoveled the driveway. I pushed Tina's car out onto the street. I baked cookies (thanks to suicidekttn) and did homework. Then I wrote a number of prayers, and did several workings that I needed to do for others. In all, it was great. And I didn't see a soul aside from Tina and the occasional other neighbor out cleaning his driveway.
This cat could use more days like that.
You know the other thing that happens in winters in Ohio?
Yep, that's right: Snow gets on the roads.
See, it's this weird thing: when the temperature drops, precipitation that is normally liquid turns into beautiful little crystals of white death!
Oh, you have options:
- panic and call in to work or school as "unable to leave your residence"
- thank God and Country and the Consumer Need For Shit You Can't Afford To Fill With Gas Anyway (in that order) and go out and own the roads by throwing caution to the wind and knowing that everyone else's car is half the size of yours (thus, you win)
- panic but go out on the roads anyway and drive 5 mph through roads that are well traveled, plowed, and salted
- drive, no matter what kind of car you're in, like you're the only car on the road
- drive as if conditions are normal
Anyway, as I was driving home on Tuesday through the ice that was covering the downy snow, I realized that I was thankful that my first driving experiences came in snow and fog in Chicago traffic.
Indeed, the conditions didn't frighten me at all. As I moved my car from "drive" to "intermediate" and occasionally "low", I smiled to myself. "I'm thankful I know how to drive in this," I thought. I didn't experience a single slip or moment of low traction.
Now, I'm certainly not going to say I'm a perfect winter driver. I've had the occasional bumping of another car when I misjudged ice and speed. But I've avoided major accidents thus far (the worst that has come of those "bumps" is a bit of paint transfer), and the frozen white death from the sky doesn't inspire fear in me. I think that this mostly has to do with the fact that I'm not dumb enough to feel invincible on the roads, and I'm familiar enough with the nuances of driving in snow and on ice to respect but not fear it.
I'm still astounded that an inch of snow can cause major cities to roll over and die (Atlanta is a good example), and that even a foot of snow is somehow unmanageable.
But honestly, the best Valentine's Day ever? Yesterday, when OSU called off its classes and I didn't have to go to work. I slept until noon, got up, and shoveled the driveway. I pushed Tina's car out onto the street. I baked cookies (thanks to suicidekttn) and did homework. Then I wrote a number of prayers, and did several workings that I needed to do for others. In all, it was great. And I didn't see a soul aside from Tina and the occasional other neighbor out cleaning his driveway.
This cat could use more days like that.