Call me crazy, call me a masochist, call me a glutton for punishment, call me maybe, but I really love terrible winter weather. I love looking at it, I love playing in it, and I even love driving in it. And this year, on the winter solstice of all days, we were treated to a magical ice storm, the likes of which had not been seen in a decade and a half.
I will have to include a small caveat here, and that is the small matter of power. Storms are far less enjoyable when the power goes out, and this time my power stayed fully on, so I am a little biased. Although if we are being totally honest, I don’t mind the power going out for a bit as well. It makes life a little more exciting. When the power is gone for days however, it becomes more than a minor inconvenience and I get why people do not enjoy having all of their food spoil and huddling together under blankets and sweaters. Luckily, that did not happen to us this time and I decided to go out to the movies on Saturday night, just as the storm was kicking into full swing.
It did take me a few minutes to scrape all of the ice of off my car, and the roads were a little slidey aroundy, but since no one else was out on the roads, and I was being very careful, I had a great time maneuvering in the ice and freezing rain. The movie, being the new Hobbit movie, was several days long and by the time I got back out to my car around 11 pm I had to completely rescrape. It was colder now though, and the ice was harder and thicker. As I was trying to get a small window of sight going, the unthinkable happened. My ice scraper snapped in half, the pointy part flying directly at the man scraping his can behind mine. Of course, being a Vermonter, I had a spare ice scraper, so I grabbed it and smiled weakly at my fellow storm-braver.
The ice was starting to give way when another not so good thing happened. My car started sliding on the ice, down the hill, and away from my scraper. The car was in park, but it was just too slippery out I guess, or maybe I was de-icing too vigorously, but either way, I looked on in horror as my car left without me, down the hill and into the other guy’s car. He was only about a foot behind me, so the car didn’t have far to travel, and there was such a thick coating of ice on both vehicles that no damage was done whatsoever. This did not stop the guy from freaking out.
You know, I see his point. What if my car had slid into his, and his had started sliding too, so I ended up at the bottom of the hill and he ended up in the lobby of the theater? But that did not happen, so relax Dude! Our cars are just kissing! Let them have their fun! Also, I couldn’t move my car away from his if I wanted to, so there was no point in yelling at me.
Well, he decided that he ought to drive away from me, so we both quickly finished scraping and then he left. I slid backwards down the rest of the hill to a comfortable stopping place and then drove home, after stopping at the grocery store for more powdered sugar. It was fine! I live in Vermont! This is what we do! It’s winter! And I love it!
The ice storm turned out to not be so bad as I had hoped thought. I know some people did lose power, and it is still pretty icy out, even today, but yesterday, when wondering if I should try to get to church, I went out to scrape again and it was so warm that the ice practically fell off of the car in one giant sheet. The roads were clear, at least here in Burlington, and there seemed to be no cause for alarm. The sidewalks were a bit slick, but boot skating is also a time-honored New England tradition, so I am happy to zip around from my car to other buildings using this method.
We may get more ice. We may get more snow. And people will probably complain about it. But not me. I’ll be out there enjoying it and living my life. Just don’t park near me.