Earlier this week and last weekend we had some snow. Not just a light dusting, I would call it a full-fledged snow. People were sledding and tubing. Maybe 4 inches in some places, maybe more in others. It's always the most fun at the beginning of the cold part of late fall.
Here is our sweet Clare, playing with the only two toys she could find in the snow. Part of a tumbleweed and a pumpkin off of the front porch. It is her first winter on earth, and she is loving the season. She just runs circles in the back yard, slipping and sliding all around.
But I have a rant. People. If you cannot drive in it, please stay home. Seriously. I followed a car with California plates for three miles going two miles per hour. It was not front wheel drive. It was not four wheel drive. It was sliding all over the place. I was cranky. I may have raised my voice in the car, (to no one in my car,) "get out of the way!"
Then there are the people who are driving big (or small) four wheel drive vehicles who think that gives them permission to drive like they own the road, and at a normal (or faster) speed, on snow and ice, maniacally down the street.
Here's my plan. Defense. Just drive like everyone else is going to hit you. Be ready. I have lived in this area of the world for almost all of my life. I have observed how my parents drive. Just be slow and cautious. They are good drivers. I learned to drive a Jeep CJ-5 with a long stick shift at 15. I think I have mentioned that my dad is a car buff. He may have had us experience driving all kinds of things -- I know I tried a super size Dodge tricked out van, I drove a Volkswagen mini bus, I drove Dad's 25th Anniversary Corvette (oh, and I hit a dip in the road -don't ask- and the muffler fell off,) seems like they had one of those mega enormous Cadillac sedans with four giant doors, but when it was time for me to get my first car, my parents helped me buy that Jeep. I had saved enough I probably could have had something smoother driving with an air conditioner, but I wanted the sportiness of that Jeep. It was orange and the black canvas top came off. I loved that car.
As long as I drove slow and steady, no sudden movements, I never had a bit of trouble going anywhere I wanted to go in that Jeep. In fact, I recall several "friends" wanting to go "climb that hill over there." (These would be those of the male gender, because girls don't want to climb hills generally when they are relatively new drivers and only own one vehicle.) I recall one particular evening when I had to be at a required play practice at school or something, and it was snowing so hard, it may have been considered a blizzard. Seems like this one friend had a big Buick Regal -- clearly not a car you would get out in a snowstorm, so I provided the ride. We made a full evening of it just puttering around and watching the flakes get bigger and bigger. I think I had a sweet stereo, maybe of the new cassette variety. Needless to say, this was before cell phones, so my folks weren't probably too worried where I was or when I would get home. I was kind of a rule follower. Just a vivid fun memory of my teenage years.
And to this day, it takes a lot of weather to keep me in the house. I don't necessarily do highway road trips on snow and ice, but in town, meh... nothing to it.
But I have a rant. People. If you cannot drive in it, please stay home. Seriously. I followed a car with California plates for three miles going two miles per hour. It was not front wheel drive. It was not four wheel drive. It was sliding all over the place. I was cranky. I may have raised my voice in the car, (to no one in my car,) "get out of the way!"
Then there are the people who are driving big (or small) four wheel drive vehicles who think that gives them permission to drive like they own the road, and at a normal (or faster) speed, on snow and ice, maniacally down the street.
Here's my plan. Defense. Just drive like everyone else is going to hit you. Be ready. I have lived in this area of the world for almost all of my life. I have observed how my parents drive. Just be slow and cautious. They are good drivers. I learned to drive a Jeep CJ-5 with a long stick shift at 15. I think I have mentioned that my dad is a car buff. He may have had us experience driving all kinds of things -- I know I tried a super size Dodge tricked out van, I drove a Volkswagen mini bus, I drove Dad's 25th Anniversary Corvette (oh, and I hit a dip in the road -don't ask- and the muffler fell off,) seems like they had one of those mega enormous Cadillac sedans with four giant doors, but when it was time for me to get my first car, my parents helped me buy that Jeep. I had saved enough I probably could have had something smoother driving with an air conditioner, but I wanted the sportiness of that Jeep. It was orange and the black canvas top came off. I loved that car.
As long as I drove slow and steady, no sudden movements, I never had a bit of trouble going anywhere I wanted to go in that Jeep. In fact, I recall several "friends" wanting to go "climb that hill over there." (These would be those of the male gender, because girls don't want to climb hills generally when they are relatively new drivers and only own one vehicle.) I recall one particular evening when I had to be at a required play practice at school or something, and it was snowing so hard, it may have been considered a blizzard. Seems like this one friend had a big Buick Regal -- clearly not a car you would get out in a snowstorm, so I provided the ride. We made a full evening of it just puttering around and watching the flakes get bigger and bigger. I think I had a sweet stereo, maybe of the new cassette variety. Needless to say, this was before cell phones, so my folks weren't probably too worried where I was or when I would get home. I was kind of a rule follower. Just a vivid fun memory of my teenage years.
And to this day, it takes a lot of weather to keep me in the house. I don't necessarily do highway road trips on snow and ice, but in town, meh... nothing to it.
