|
I do not like what's under the snow
07/06/2006
The snow. I DON'T LIKE SNOW!!! Well, I
don't like what's under the snow. That slick
stuff you can't see. I'm a chicken and will tell that to anyone who will listen.
I've already had the
experience of spinning out of control and totaling a pickup and trailer, I don't
need a refresher!
Ed said if I just wouldn't have held my foot on the brake I may have had a
chance of saving
something. All that was left of the trailer was a twisted frame and kindling.
Years later, after we moved to South Dakota, I went to Mitchell with my
in-laws and everyone had heard the 'Barbara can't drive in the snow' stories,
but Gramma was sure she could trust me. "Just remember, if you start sliding,
don't hit the brakes!" Well, right on schedule, I started sliding. I took my
foot from the gas pedal and lifted both feet from the floor.
Quicker than the wink of an eye we bulldozed our way down into the ditch,
snow to the windows and we couldn't get out. But, by golly, I didn't total the
car!!
Once, when we were living in Utah, we took off for Cortez, Colorado (up
over the mountains
from Blanding, Utah.) I expect it was payday or Ed's day off and we had to go
that day or not go for another week. We had to buy groceries, etc at Cortez
because the friendly folks in Blanding didn't want us oilfield trash walking on
the sidewalks in front of their stores, let alone going into them.
In any event, as we're going up over the mountain range all of a sudden we
are spinning out of control ... backwards! Now, that was an experience I have
also never had the need to relive. Ed's a much better driver than me , but then
so are Barbie dolls and other inanimate objects, so he just got the car back
under control and on we went.
I had one more hair-raising experience going up over that mountain that
just came to my
mind. No bad roads that day. My good obstetrician carried a flask in the glove
box and whatever he was drinking from it apparently gave him the self-assurance
he needed to master the mountain in the least amount of time.
After we bought our house in Oacoma and Ed
was working in Wyoming five days on and five days off, I was getting material
ready for him to work on the house. Driving to town on a nice BLACK highway was
a breeze. Once I got to town and started up King Street by the Dairy Queen I
started to fishtail! On my way back home as I head up the hill by the Oacoma
water treatment plant all hell broke loose. I was traveling about 40 miles an
hour when suddenly I shot across the lane on the wrong side of the highway, spun
around a couple of times and headed for the embankment on the west-bound side.
No way was I going into that ditch and to hell with what you're supposed to do
or not do ... I hit those brakes! Fortunately, there was gravel along the
shoulder and I cam to a stop just in time. Oh ... another lesson ... now I know
what black ice is.
Just give me a nice snowy day on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I'm not
going to be going anywhere and once the sun comes out it is absolutely gorgeous.
There in NOWHERE I need to be when the snow and ice are on the ground. Period.
TOP
HOME
|