Snow is beautiful as you sit next to the fire, hot chocolate in your mug. Pristine views of white fields and flocked trees lull you into a sense of peace with the world, no matter what CNN might say. The weekend passes quietly, and you look at the tracks left in the snow by various animals and humans.
Sleep comes Sunday night, and you rest well.
The next day you trudge out to your truck to drive to work a day or two later, not thinking of the duplicitous nature of snow. Sure, you know you have to go slow and be careful. However, you don’t think about the fact that your truck may have sunk into soft ground.
Four hours later, you give up. Luckily, the other car is able to get free of the icy shackles of the winter storm and your spouse takes you to work and picks you up.
That evening you discover that kitty litter is indeed a versatile tool as it magically provides traction to the rear wheels of your truck.
The truck is free and on solid ground. You head back inside to make some amazing hamburgers (with venison mixed in) and cheese fries, celebrating the small victory with a drink to boot.
Two days later you get up to drive in. There isn’t any more snow on the road, but there is ice, some of which hides beneath the snow. You learn first hand that the term “black ice” is as scary as it sounds.
Ahead of you on the road, two cars hit at 7 mph causing light damage to both. Each driver is quite assuredly a moron. The first narrowly avoided an accident pulling onto the road, rushing past a car coming the other way. The second follows within five feet of the first.
You don’t hear the crunch over the sound of the heater blasting with all of its power, but as you slow to a stop 15 feet behind them you can see the impact clearly.
A soft curse escapes your lips as they decide to stop right there in middle of the one-lane and turn on their hazards. Then you rejoice as they come to the conclusion that they should return to their vehicles and find a parking lot to pull into. These are bright people.
A trip which normally take 25 minutes take an hour fifteen, but you rejoice as it could have been much longer, or it could have ended all too soon along the way.
You talk with coworkers about their trips and hear stories similar to your own. But, you are from a city that stops working with an inch or two of ice. And this was one of the three worst driving experiences you’ve ever had.
Supposedly, this is a rare occurrence for this neck of the woods. But you aren’t sure if you believe them. You sure don’t believe the weather service. You sure don’t believe you are as good a driver as you thought a week ago.
And you sit, accompanied by that little companion on your shoulder, whispering in your ear that you get to do it all over again tonight on your way home. Today is Wednesday; there isn’t a reprieve for a couple of days more.
You realize that snow is beautiful on the weekends. No, scratch that, snow is beautiful on one day of the weekends, as long as you were able to take care of the important tasks that cannot be done during the week. It had better be gone when you need to drive back to work.
The drive home will be slow, but you will have a feeling of accomplishment when you arrive.