The Shallow End

The Winter Weather Drive Home Report

It's 4:00 am and I'm awake and ready to go. But where? It's 4:00 am and it's snowing outside! I'm up early because I went to bed at 7:30 pm, thrashed by the latest snow storm to blow through. I left work early to try and beat the snow storm home but got on the roads and realized it was already too late. I tried playing the all-Christmas radio channel to boost my spirits as I hit the snowy, slippery highways at a blazing 5 mph. I was in for a long and frightening and downright exhausting drive home. This, after last night's drive home on pure ice that landed me short of home, at my brother's house, was almost more than I could handle. Almost. That's the key, isn't it? God never gives us more than we can handle, but He's not averse to testing us.

While my drive is normally a 35-minute, 35 mile, affair, Thursday night's trip took a little over 2 hours and involved peril. Usually, if snow is predicted, I will drive the Tahoe (it is old and it has over 200,000 miles on it but it is still 4-wheel drive and has some clearance for snowy conditions), but I left home on Wednesday morning without even a winter jacket, driving my VW Beetle, with race slicks and 4 inches of clearance. In snowy conditions, the VW's wheel wells fill with packed snow and turn the whole machine into something resembling a snowball. Packed snow, coupled with balding tires, causes much sliding and uncontrolled driving, resulting in what I imagine looks something like slow motion ice capades. I was not the only performer on the road either. There were others and our choreography was not well-rehearsed. The 18-wheelers were especially ill-prepared for the dance, barrelling down the road at a roaring 40 mph while the rest of us were busy twirling on ice. Anyway, after many frightful moments, prayers, deep breaths and pleas for safety, I arrived home and barely made it up the slippery driveway, into the safety of our garage. Halleleujia! My left leg was shaking like a sewing machine needle from all of its hard work operating the clutch (that's the other problem with the 5-speed VW in slow-going and perilous traffic; it involves a lot more work by the underutilized left leg). So, I made it home and after dinner and a glass of wine (maybe two), I went to bed thoroughly exhausted. But thank God I made it home.

Wednesday night, I was not so fortunate as to make it home, but I was very blessed to spend the night at my brother's house not far from my office. While Thursday night's adventure involved mostly snow, Wednesday night's was all ice. The rain turned to sleet in the early afternoon and, due to work related pressures, I could not get away until 4:30 pm, throwing what loose ends I could into my briefcase and racing out the door before things got any worse. By the time I got away, the sleet had accumulated on the roads and there was at least an inch of ice, and growing. I didn't even try to get on the highway, thinking I might navigate my way across town on the main surface streets, ultimately having to take the highway at some point and the final leg of the journey is a 5 mile stretch of rolling hills on a two-lane country highway. About 5 miles into my journey, I conceded the "fight," knowing there was no way I could expect to make it all the way home and called my brother before I got to the point of no return. "Hi D, how are you? Mind if I come spend the night at your house tonight?" Nothing like having unexpected company drop in at the last minute and ask to spend the night. 8-} Finding a hotel room was Plan B. "Sure," he said. When I arrived at his home (every inch of driving on the ice was hard work), I first breathed a deep sigh of relief. Then, I rang the doorbell. They greeted me with open arms. His home was so warm and cozy with the decorations of Christmas and smells of good home cooking. My SIL was in the finishing stages of making beef stew, cornbread and chocolate/chocolate chip cookies! How absolutely wonderful is that?! I was oh so thankful for the blessings of family nearby when I needed them. Plus, I got to spend time with my precious neices and nephew who spent much of the evening doing homework and practicing their violin, flute and drums, respectively. What a treat!

And yes, I wore the same clothes to work two days in a row. 8-}

posted by Gwynne @ 2:29 AM