What Don't they Get About Driving in Winter

-

I travel some pretty steep windy roads on the way to work as they are shortcuts.
For 16 years I have been figuring out the quickest routes to work, and have had to alter them many times when construction crews muck up the highways and shave precious time off my carefully planned trip to work...

When the weather is too bad I stick to the main roads, but I usually take the back way as it is scenic with little traffic. The roads wind along creeks, between steep hills where the highway department has not quite figured out how to direct the flow of water that cascades from the rain, or from the periodic thaws.

Here in the Catskills, the temperatures can range from several degrees below zero, to a warm 55. With the recent thaw and temps above freezing, there has been much melting of the huge snow banks along the road. Often the early morning temperatures are below freezing, making the puddles formed by day into long runways of ice.

It never ceases to amaze me that people drive well over the speed limit in such conditions, and I watch with a grimace and a prayer how they deal with the ice at such a high speed.

Options appear to be slam on the brakes IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SLICK and sometimes spin out, hitting any variety of very bad things. Guard rails, houses, cars, and oops, sometimes land on their roof.

Some keep driving fast.

Fortunately more make it safely than not, but recently I have read a few accident reports on people not have not have not been so lucky.

And it happens over and over.

I have a four wheel drive, but that isn't going to save my little ass on ice. I drive slowly, know where the danger zones are, and creep my way though them.

My biggest fear are the drivers who don't pay attention to the hazards of winter, who might just be coming in the opposite direction towards me. I put out my force field, envision myself protected, and wave my finger at their carelessness.

May you all approach the winter's challenges with care and prudence, and may the force field be with you.

Patti O Ice

Comments

Tangled Stitch said…
That is such a good warning. I hope more people read it. Thanks for the heads up!
8:47 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

La Cucina

-
Image
Tonight my house had the aroma of olive oil, garlic, tomatoes and candles. Keith Jarret was playing in the background, and I had just opened a nice bottle of reasonable red wine. (Osborne Solaz, 2004 Temranillo/Cab- 7.00) I needed it for the sauce, so why not have some while cooking! I took good care of myself all weekend, and felt like cooking for the first time in what seems forever. I am an excellent cook. A collage cook one might say, or better yet, a bricollage cook. I take what is in the house and make a dinner out of it. I think about flavor, texture, color and variety. Most of the time I would rather put this creative energy into visual arts, but on occasion I will push my fine art aside, and the art of the evening is cooking. Candles, music, wine, and a lovely table. I must think more like Monet, and not only make the meal art, but somehow make it my visual art too. The best I could do was a photo of the beginning of the sauce. It looks rather bizarre if you ask me,...
Read more

I Don't Want to Get Any Older - I Want to Stay Just the Way I Am

-
Image
Such words of wisdom in the kitchen between Larry and Alanna yesterday. "I don't want to get any older Yiyi, I don't want to be a mommy, I want to be just the way I am." Funny that a four year old should be thinking of such heavy matter during the Christmas Season. I sat for a few moments, going back decades, digging deep in the vault of my childhood memories, remembering what it was like to be four. whooooossshhhhhhh I am watching our black and white TV, and I flash between visions of the flying monkeys in the Wizard of Oz and the bogeymen from the March of the Wooden Soldiers. I am looking out the window into the dark inky sky of Christmas eve, believing that if I concentrated hard enough, I could make Santa and his reindeer appear flying between the twinkling stars. (ps I used that concentration when I fished all those years ago with #1 - to get the fish to come to MY lure....) I am lying in bed trying to go to sleep on Christmas Eve. I feel like I am on speed,...
Read more

Sunday Ramble

-
Image
In yoga today my teacher talked about acceptance of life and of self, something which is a challenge to both the young AND the old. I was thinking about that yesterday when I was passed by my new full length antique mirror which leans against the wall in my hallway. I pass it from the shower to the bedroom every morning. Sometimes I stop and look and remember when I had the body of a runner, when there was no inch of pinch, or bulges, or dimples. Now, I look and chuckle, noting the attack of cellulite, the bumps, lumps, scars, spots, and veins, though if I squint my eyes and keep the light off, I can still see the framework of that runner’s body. I chuckle now because I am comfortable about my body. It took 50 years…many wasted with negative thoughts about my self which were so crazy. Part of my acceptance might also be the unconditional love that I have in a man who loves me for who I am and never says a thing that isn’t kind. (sometimes I hate that Larry..because it makes me loo...
Read more