Snowbound?
Of course my friends in the sub-arctic are laughing at me, but the three inches of snow which fell the day before yesterday have justified another two days of burrowing alone in the house. I did go out twice yesterday, but scurried back to the blankets at the speed of a sub-tropical wimp.
I feel especially needful of church this morning. The isolation here has grown to an intensity that turned yesterday's skype session with hubs and GS into a demonstration of just how lonely I am. I need touch. Still, yesterday's sunshine melted enough snow to turn the roads into a frightening mix of snow and ice. I've never had the opportunity to learn how to drive with either one, though I have heard and remember enough child's-eye-view horror stories to feed the anxiety.
Maybe the Spanish mass in the afternoon? I met the gal I so enjoyed spending a day with earlier this week at the early mass and I am very interested in exploring the potentials of growing a relationship, but as of sunset yesterday, those roads looked downright dangerous to my anxious eye. The weather forecast shows the temps will remain below freezing today, but there will be more sunshine. Maybe the roads will be safer by afternoon? Maybe I will find my brass ovaries and brave the icy anxiety to make the early mass? We see after the sun comes up. For now, I am mostly guessing what lies beyond the darkened windows.
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Brave it, Arfie. You could even ask for a ride. (Horrors?) I grew up in that and worse by far, and ice is a legit reason to hide, believe me. Even to the Arctic sorts. Yeesh. Ask the Titanic. Ice bad! But I hope you can make it to church:-) BTW, Arcitc as I am, I jest not. Ice = me hibernate.
The only person I know who is headed that way lives approximately equal distance on the other side of the church. They would need to quadruple their commute to make it so. They are from Chicago, so I might ask for some snow/ice driving lessons, but it feels unreasonable to ask for a ride on such short notice. Inspiration for finding my brass ovaries?
The sun is glowing through the trees on the horizon outside the studio window. We see what it reveals.
Yesterday's sunset walk showed some pretty deep and soupy mush puddles which I suspect froze up overnight.
I've long shoveled/swept snow early in the morning so that when the sun hit it, it would dry and be clear. Learn too where the snow melts/runs across the road to sweep the snow out of that area a bit too. Honestly, it will all be over soon enough and then like childbirth, it will all be forgotten.
Just keep thinking to yourself, that snow is great for the groundwater, great for the groundwater....
Water is the great moderator of temperatures. Cold days less cold, hot less hot. Lack of water is what makes a desert a desert, with soaring heat in the daytime and bone chilling freeze at night. Driving you're watching for black ice...you can expect it to be where water would typically cross a road and stand. (Shady rather than open areas, down in the dips, generally.)
I'd have advice on driving, but where I grew up, the roads were replaced by hard-packed cinder-imbued snow for four months a year (or more). Getting to pavement was what happened in April or early May. Then came roadwork, and then came snow again. That said, where I live, black ice exists wherever shade exists, and even if they salt/whatever, there'll be patches that are missed entirely somehow. Let the sun do some solar powering, give it a try?
In Central Texas, cold weather is an excuse to close down the town to party and/or snooze. It'll melt off soon enough.
That attitude seems to prevail here, as well, 800 miles to the north. Maybe. My perceptions are still those of an outsider. In actual fact, the weather forecast says it will be in the 50's next weekend.
Getting up to 30 is generally all it takes to finish clearing snow off a road if it gets enough sunlight.
Have you ever driven Off Road? I've found that my son's a natural at driving in the snow because of his years experience quad'ing. (My style of "teaching" him was mostly to shut up and only say something if I think it was getting dangerous. His whole learning experience I maybe said something...50 times. (Told his sister to be quiet maybe 500.) I paid for a driving instructor at his school...he said that he didn't say much either.
Only generic advice I can give is 'drive MUCH slower than you think', let people pass you, and increase your speed as you feel comfortable.
You're driving in a pickup...top heavy...don't try to go as fast as a little car. If you ever get deep snow...you'll be the one that can make it through though.
(((arfie))) I'm a new englander so if you do venture out. drive ten miles slower than you think you can go easily, don't step down on the brake hard or solidly, instead it's just a series of small taps with seconds between them so you don;t put the car into a skid. if you do start to slide or skid at all, take your foot off the gas and turn the steering wheel to turn the car into the direction you are sliding once you are in that direction its the small tap tap series on the brake until you stop. pull over regroup, breathe. Most people never slide or skid if they go slow, so ten miles slower is the most important I think. because it's ice you can't see not what you can see that you want to prepare for.
Good luck, I hope you go and it turns out fine~ triple hugs~