#sol21 March 15 A Commute to Remember

I'm writing every day in March as part of Two Writing Teacher's Slice of Life.  Today's slice in reverse is based on Fran McVeigh's post, Resource-Full. Thanks Fran for this great idea.

By this point, the sun was doing its thing and the rest of the ride was uneventful. My pulse slowly, but surely returned to normal.  I made it to work with just minutes to spare and a story that made others look at me as if I was telling them about a bad dream.

I did a fast prayer of thanks for making it down the hill alive and for avoiding the police cruiser.  Then, I did a fast prayer of thanks for new tires. Then, I heard to unmistakable sound of abundant sand and salt on my tires and I knew things were going to be all right. 

I too slid down the black ice covered road at a 90 degree angle from the guardrail. I think I remembered to turn into the skid, but to be honest, I am not sure of anything other than the beating of my heart as I passed the police cruiser with inches to spare. 

As I crested the hill, I realized there were police lights at the bottom of the hill, and a car going sideways down the hill, scraping the guardrail as it passed. There was at least one wrecked car on the guardrail near the bottom; however, I could not focus on anything other than my own precarious descent.

Traffic was definitely moving slowly on the Saw Mill that morning as we all stayed in the one lane with a respectable distance between cars.  It all changed as I went up that first hill, slowly, and traffic slowed nearly to a halt. 

A few cars on the interstate passed me by, but most were going slowly and being respectful of the patches of black ice everywhere.  I thought about pulling over but the sun was already above the horizon and warming the earth, plus I felt safer in my lane with the salt and sand. 

Once I reached the highway, I noticed several cars and two tractor trailers off the road. I figured things must have been pretty dicey as that ice storm rolled through. I noticed the passing lane appeared to be covered with ice, so I went slowly and carefully staying in my lane where it appeared there was abundant sand and salt. 

My car was covered by a thin layer of ice, but the street had been sanded and salted.  It looked perfectly passable.  Yet, walking  around the car to scrape the windows on the slick ice was nearly impossible.  So, I got into my car and cranked up the defroster. 

It was still dark that morning when I decided the thin layer of ice on the driveway was going to challenge my walk to the car. I checked my phone one last time to make sure there was not going to be an ice delay. Then, as I had done many other mornings, I slid down the driveway, a lot faster than I had planned, on my trusty long coat, arriving at the wheel well, safely.