Monday, January 28, 2008

Snow Day

Sunday's slush



This morning's snow







I've lived on the lake for nearly 10 years, but have never seen snow on the water until today. As of Saturday, it was completely frozen over. Then, yesterday, there was a hint of melted snow on top. This morning, there is no denying the inches of white on top of the ice.

I tried making it into work today. My bomber Subaru with 4 studded tires goes ANYwhere, but other folks were going EVERYwhere! I made it three miles before I saw the first truck with its flashers alerting me to the ditch it was nose-deep into. As I continued around the icy corner, there were two passenger vehicles in the right-hand ditch, facing each other. One nose completely gone and the other's side panel now missing. I wove between these three, only to come upon the monster truck fully embedded in the ditch.

Everybody was in good spirits except the woman who had been T-boned. Visibly shaken, she asked if the damage to her car was bad. I didn't know how to tell her that her car looked totaled, so said, "Its kinda crunched." She commended my "politically correct" answer.

The Aid Car arrived on scene and I began to scope the descent downhill to continue my commute. I was informed they were turning people around a mile ahead (explained the heavier-than-usual oncoming traffic earlier). To check out the closure rumor, I had to thread the needle between another accident in the middle of the hill. Weighing all I'd seen already, I turned around. I have never aborted my commute before.

Lesson learned: When there's snow on the lake, don't even bother with the roads.

Friday, January 11, 2008

John Steinbeck

This morning, I was remembering some "words of wisdom" uttered to me by my then-boyfriend's mother. I was in my early 20s (VERY early 20s). She said, "You're very idealistic. That's because you're young. That will change as you get older." I'm much older now....

This evening, I read this:
"When I was very young and the urge to be someplace else was on me, I was assured by mature people that maturity would cure the itch..." - John Steinbeck.

I always have liked Steinbeck. And I think I'll like this this next read, too.