What the heck???

20 Dec What the heck???

OK.  What…. is…. this?????

This morning the rain had chunks in it.  Is that supposed to happen?

Really????

All right, I do know about snow.  We usually get it a couple of times a year.  Sometimes lots more, sometimes not at all.

Have I ever mentioned I live on the side of a mountain?

I have a driveway that’s super super steep, and that gets you onto a street that’s also steep.  And there are two big switchback curves to slide around on that steep hill. Well here, I’ll just draw it for you.

But way steeper.

See my car down there?  Can you tell it’s sitting on an almost vertical driveway?

There’s a rock wall on one side of the driveway, hiding behind those bushes on the right, that we’ve all come within inches of hitting after turning sideways and sliding down.  By a miracle we’ve never quite hit it.  That’s good luck right?

There’s a rock wall on the other side too but if you’re too far on that side you don’t want to see that rock wall, because it would be as you were going down past it. Like straight down. Over the edge.  Can you tell there’s sort of a cliff behind that big tree?

And there’s a bit of a ditch on one side at the bottom too.  Not a biggie, but it’s been known to play a factor.

So really, you should think of my driveway as a sort of pinball game.

Now if there are rumours of cold weather the first thing you do, just in case, is make sure you’re parked at the top of the driveway facing down, so if there’s ice you can at least look ahead as you slide down, which leaves you freer to focus on cursing.  If there are rumours of not just cold but also snow the prudent thing to do is make sure you’re parked facing down but at the bottom of the driveway, so you don’t have very far to slide to ease onto a hopefully plowed street and start the street adventure down to the highway.

Let’s say you were just a little too cozy on the couch and your boots were upstairs and the reports were a little vague about whether snow would happen.  Let’s say you didn’t get the car down and you woke up to a white driveway.  Well around here we just call those good times!

And when you come out to a car parked facing up at the top of a driveway covered in snow you can rub your hands together and get ready to make your choice, and really savour it like picking the right bottle of wine or the right pair of boots.  Salt?  Shovel and salt?  Just go for it??

Something else to consider as you creep down, whether it’s a slow controlled creep or a bit of a sled ride:  what neighbour has parked across the street and how nice is their car?  And how nice are they??  I’m lucky that the street points up to the right so if you get going a bit too fast if you head that direction you should slow down.  See?  All good.

And then there are those pesky switchbacks to get around.  But you can picture it right?

And you know what the good thing about picking your way down a slippery street is?  It’s still quite a lot better than slogging your way up that hill on foot because your car couldn’t make it!  You try and think to yourself, “Say, how fortunate am I, walking in this Winter Wonderland?” but really that same curse for driveway sledding  tends to slip in between each word as you try very hard not to fall on your butt.

Oh, and the falling on your butt thing happens in the driveway too.  And it’s not unheard of to fall on your butt at the top and slide on your butt all the way to the bottom.  And we get to do this for free!!!

I know.  You’re laughing at me right now aren’t you?  West Coast problems.  Suck it up, lady.