What can I do today? I could play in the dusting of snow that has covered my car. You know it snowed here this morning? Its not enough to be scared of to drive in. But it does remind me of previous winters in upstate New York. I used to be so scared of driving in the snow. It didn’t start until I drove home from D’s house one day on the highway, pretty secure that if I drove slowly, I would be fine all the way home. And then I did a 180… maybe it ended up being a 220, because I ended up in a very strange position, facing who knows what direction. Only cars in the opposite direction were on the road, and one guy checked to make sure I was ok. And I was. Just ready to pee in my pants. I was able to keep going. Driving at a snails pace, barely able to see behind my tears of histeria, I vibrated in fear all the way home.
When I got home, my roomate listened to me whine about how scary driving in the snow is. But she lived through the same experience several years before. So she laughed. “You just gotta know what your doing.” So that day, she forced me to learn.
We went to a large snow covered parking lot around the corner from our place. It was 3 o’clock and the sun was setting. So the air was a yellowy purple. And the ground, an unending field of white.
This was fun in an uncontrolled rollar coaster kind of way. I had to push the accelorator hard, to hit the breaks hard, to let myself skid. And also somehow got to make my car slide left and right. And fishtail. And avoid the trees. Oh, and she had me drive backwards. I don’t remember why. It was like real life bumper cars, just with one car and an open field.
So in summary, yes it helped me know what to expect. But I still hate driving in the snow. Driving and skiing. I will stick with walking.
Or moving to Hawaii.