last night/this morning, just after midnight, the boy and i took a harrowing journey. to the grocery store. you see, we've been putting off a large shopping trip since new year's, so we figured that we would do it last night.
it wasn't the best decision one could make. since we were awake and in bad need of food, we just figured "what the heck" and took the plunge. yesterday during the day the streets were all slushy. last night, it snowed about 2 inches, but nothing that would seem to make a huge difference to the way the streets were previously in the day.
we were wrong.
the streets were ice. and i mean ice. everywhere. the entire way to the store (about a mile and a hlaf away) was ice. the entire way back was ice. the parking lot? ice. the 2" of snow that had come down earlier in the night had been packed down by cars so much that it just became one sheet. of ice. it was scary as fuck trying to get to the store (and back) alive. we were in the boy's scout, which subsequently did not have anything but us in it, and therefore not enough weight in the back. any time we even hit the brakes, we slid. anytime we turned a corner, we slid. when we were trying to park the car, going 1MPH, we slid. it was horrid.
when we were finally close enough to home to feel safe, we couldn't go any further at all. any attempt at braking or accelerating made us go sideways down the street. one of ben's friends just happened to be walking by at this point and hopped on the back of the scout, letting the car move (in the correct direction) once again. and, of course, we got home safely.
i haven't driven in 4 days due to the state of the streets here. my neighborhood is still completely ice. the boy is on his way to the gas station now (in his Saturn - thank g-d for front-wheel-drive), and will be able to bring me back a report on the main roads. my big fear is having to go back to work tomorrow. my place of business is about 7 mi. from here, all mostly on main roads. i'm just hoping and praying and hoping that the roads will be better tomorrow morning than they were last night. it is going to be 11 degrees tonight, so i'm not in the best of moods.
on another note, the night before last, it was so bright outside that i could have read a book with no help at 3am... here's a picture of the boy and i (with the scout) at just about 3am. with no flash.
Wheeeeeeeeeeee!
(So I'm weird, I think it's kind of fun driving when it's slick, as long as I don't have to go on the highway.)
Posted by: Auntie Sarah at January 5, 2004 9:23 AM