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Wintertime Driving in New England
Mar 2, 2006
Well, folks,
we are in the midst of a very nasty little snowstorm. Although we won't get anywhere NEAR the amount of snow that we did in the blizzard a couple of weeks ago, I actually think this storm is much more treacherous...which leads into one of my MAJOR dislikes...

I went to work this AM knowing it was supposed to snow today and figured if it got to looking really bad I'd leave and use some personal time. Well...it did snow heavily for about 2 hours...then slacked off the wettish drizzle and the roads were clear again.

Then without any of us noticing it started to snow again while the temp dropped. NOW we had snow over ice...at 3:15 I called it a day and left the office. There were only 4 of us peons in the office anyway. Everyone else was at a special Habeas Training session in New Britain.(The really terrible thing is the governor had released non-essential state employess at 2:30 but did anyone bother to tell us?   F*CK NO!!!  I heard it on the New York news while driving home). 

ANYWAY...I brushed the top layers of snow off the car and then wrestled with the ice underneath and started off...VERY SLOWLY. The trip to the turn-off to the highway wasn't too bad at 15-20 mph. When I got to the toad that leads to the highway, I had to struggle up the hill at the corner - the car churning in low-trac - but one I got over that annoying little hump I was on my way. The highway itself wasn't terribly cleared off but it was passable,...I must say it may be the only time I've driven that raod at 20 mph! The visibility was awful, though - at one point I realized I was driving on the bumpy little strip on the right hand lane edge - the one that's supposed to wake you up and let you know you're driving off the road. I passed a car completely turned around on the northbound side, pushed off to the side and surrounded by 3 police cars with flashing lights.

I crept off the exit ramp toward home. This ramp is a very curvy, relatively long steep-ish downhill run to a traffic light at the bottom. When I was able to take my left turn, my car skidded gently over all the beginning-to-freeze little ruts across the road until I was able to plant myself firmly in the right-hand lane. Crawling along, I got to the intersection where I must make a right turn and go up a nasty hill. I was concerned about being able to navigate it and by Goddess my fears weren't unfounded.

At the crest of the hill is a stop light at an intersection. There I make another right-hand turn toward home. However, because there was so much icy snow collected on the hill, people were having great difficulty getting up it. There was one car stopped almost at the top on the far right, off the travel lane, but it was clear that the white care IN the travle lane - about 4 cars ahead of me - was having a damn n ear impossible time getting over the crest. So naturally, I am stopped on the hill, praying to Kwan Yin to help me make it to the top and around the corner, so I could get onto the road that leads to our apartment complex - a road with yet another hill, less steep but MUCH longer!

The four cars in front of me finally moved beyond the light, and that left me free to listen to my wheels and transmission labor in low-trac to the red light at the crest of the hill. My car slid gently a few inches to the left and then the right as I crept forward.    Mind you, there were cars next to me on the left and I was fearful that I might slide a bit too far and hit one of them. I made it to the corner and slid around. Now I had only to drive about a mile to my turnoff into the apartment complex - BUT after the initial mild downslope, the road rises gradually into a curved hill. I allowed myself a little more speed at the beginning of this road - there was no one near me and I wanted to gather momentum for that last great hill.

As I approached the curve leading to the steepest part of this hill I saw an old pickup on the right, abandoned - obviously unable to make the hill. I gritted my teeth and kept driving - my car slipping and sliding ominously as I wended my 10 mph way up the hill. I did make it, however. Covered with sweat yet flooded with relief, I slid down the road into the complex and found a parking space near the apartment.


All of this VERY all-around-the-mulberry-bush story is to share with you that I REALLY REALLY despise driving in snow and ice!

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Posted: Mar 2, 2006 2:14pm

 
 
 
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Author

RC deWinter
female, age 62, divorced
Middletown, CT, USA
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