Winter Has Arrived

Don't be alarmed! This is a photo of my famous $12,500 wreck from three years ago. I use it simply to catch your attention. That said I want to describe for you a bit about winter in the U.P. Mother Superior has been raging lately and has dumped a fair amount of snow on us poor human souls - the "Gales of November" are blowing tonight making me wonder if another tree or two is gonna come down. It all started Sunday night. I had spent the whole day at home relaxing. By 6:30 PM I decided the nibbles in my kitchen were no longer satisfying and I needed to go get something to eat. As I headed out on Mangum Rd. my car shimmied a bit on the straightaway that crosses the big open field and for a brief moment I started to whine to myself that it couldn't already be time to get new tires. I only went about 1/2 mile further though, on the curve back in the woods after the pasture to find a car on its side in the ditch - the young driver and his female friend standing nearby. I pulled over and rolled down my window - it's what we do up here and made sure they were alright. Darwinism was clearly at play as the young man cursed that stupid curve telling me this was the third time...guess he didn't learn. This road was covered in what we love to call black ice. My stomach won out over common sense and I proceeded slowly and cautiously to 41 to head into Harvey and get a sandwich from Quiznos. SO...on my way into work on Monday morning I was reminded by the previous night's experience to take it slow and careful. I was just about into town coming down the Shiras hill when right in front of me a pick up loses control and BAM two car accident with a minivan and I slam on the brakes. I can feel the ABS pumping and my car slows - I realized afterwards that I'm one of those drivers that doesn't panic, in those few seconds I remember checking my mirrors and deciding what my action would be if it became clear I wouldn't stop in time. I did stop though - maybe about 25 yards behind them, they were almost totally blocking the northbound lanes. Knowing how folks come flying down that hill I decided to put my flashers on and stay put to ward off traffic till the police arrived. By today there were numerous school closings and I took my time going to and from work. Coming home there were a few total white out spots where I slowed to a crawl - the snow was blowing so hard I couldn't tell if my brights were working right or not. However, I made it home and in one piece which is good, because if I have another accident in that car, State Farm will cut me off completely I think. It's also very strange to live in a place where on days like this I know the spots on the highway where folks have been killed and in two of those spots know who was killed there - life in a small town, eh? Drive safely friends.