A Snow Story

Snow is a funny thing. Folks who don't live with it regularly will say, "I've seen snow," if they have seen it once, which is pretty hilarious. There are all kinds of snow. There are the big fat wet flakes that make terrific snowmen and snowballs and is heavy to shovel. There is the cold dry snow that blows around like dust and settles everywhere and nowhere. Four inches of snow can be a piece of cake to drive in, unless.
 

So what do you see in the picture above? Or rather what do you NOT see?  It's my driveway, after I shoveled the maybe four to six inches of snow. But you do NOT see my car. I live on a rather steep, short hill. My street is a curve with a long hill on one side, and a shorter, steeper hill on the other. I live on the short side of the street, halfway down the steeper hill. I usually get to my house by driving up the long side. There's a long straight approach that usually gives me enough momentum to make it up to the top if the road covered in snow. There isn't enough of that on the short side, and it T's into somebody's driveway. So when the weather is nasty, I'm never eager to get in my car and risk sliding down the hill into somebody else's driveway.

Tuesday the weather reports said we'd have snow, and that it would start about 6 AM, but be done by 6 PM, and we wouldn't have a lot, maybe 4 - 6 inches. So I went to work. I left earlier than usual, after hearing from the shipping manager that the truckers said the main roads were fine, but a lot of parking lots were terrible. I had no trouble getting out of our parking lot, and on my way to the highway, I almost slid right through a red light. Fortunately there was nobody there, so I didn't hit anything.

I had no trouble on the steep curvy street outside my neighborhood (development), but inside my neighborhood was a different story. I got about 3/4 of the way up the big long hill before my car lost traction. I tried to back down the hill, but mostly I slid. I tried the other, shorter hill. That was even worse. I slid back down sideways. I backed down the street the best I could.

Now I should tell you I live in an over-55 community where the speed limit is 15 MPH and cars are a rarity. I encountered no traffic. Thank goodness nobody has a stone wall and nobody else was on the road. I could no sooner control my car than I can sing an aria. (I cannot sing to save my soul.)

Parking on the streets in winter is forbidden. (thank goodness, because I sure as hell would have hit anything that was parked.)

I got back down and then tried the big hill again.  Same thing. Got stuck 3/4 of the way up, and then slid and skidded back down. Slid backwards at an angle halfway down the street. When the car stopped, I did my best to execute a 3 point turn and drove away, toward the flat area near the "mail house" and the parking area reserved for campers and extra vehicles. That's where my car is parked now, about 1/8 mile away from my house. I left it there and walked home. I made it up the short hill, but I did slip several times on the ice underneath. As I was walking home I was passed by one of the maintenance trucks that was plowing. "I've got to plow first, then I can lay down some salt," he told me. "You can try again after that."

"No thank you! I am going to leave my car right where it is. No point in pushing my luck."

For the record I can tell you that one time on my way home from work my car hit a slippery patch and did a 360 turn in the middle of the road. I've slid and slipped more than once. I live in New England. It snows. We have to learn to deal with it. I did not freak out and I didn't lose my cool when my car slid and slipped down the hill (either time). I wasn't even worried I'd hit anything (mostly I think I was just resigned to whatever happened.)

The saying we have around here is this, and it's very true. "The first mile and the last mile are the worst."

So that's my snow story for the day. And I kinda hope is the last one like that I'll tell for a long while.