Slushies

Today is the day that I ponder the winter experience of slushies. Most of the time, the air is crispy and stimulates your lungs. The snow crunches beneath your feet. The tires pack down snow and creates the ruts that rock and roll the vehicles, making them feel more like a safari trek than an actual paved street. This is the typical winter and the majority people are accustomed to it.

However, today was an odd day. Driving the children to school this morning, I noticed that the thermometer was registering a miraculous plus one degree. So, I trekked back and shovelled the drive. Since it was snowing, I did it more than once. The problem was I still had to go out and drive again. I have the pleasure of driving downtown twice most days for dance, gymnastics and so on. Today, was a day for both of those.

The thing that I don't understand, is the way people respond to the "slushie" phenomenon. I start to drive and the snow plows have been active. The roads are very clear, if a little slick to the treads on the van. However, this is not unusual for this time of year. It is winter. In the north, it is always winter in January.

So why is it that when the temperature warms up and the roads get that little bit "slushie" that people forget how to drive. There is a little bit more moisture in the snow. In fact, for the children, this is the perfect snowman snow. There is a little bit of spray that hits the windshield and that means more windshield washer fluid. Might I remind people that the wipers may be switched on prior to departure from a switch located to the right of most steering columns? The roads are as clear as they can be in the winter. Yet, to my irritation and disgust, people are terrified because snow is falling from the sky and it is a different kind of snow.

Thanks to those people that were incapable of driving close to the speed limits, (in fact some were as much as 40 below the posted limit) I was late to the school to pick up my daughter. This behaviour doubled the commute time to all sorts of activities. There were no accidents for a change, but that probably changed later.

The point is, if you are not comfortable driving in the winter conditions. Please don't! Get lessons, figure out a car that works for you, take a bus. My theory is that is equally as dangerous to drive to slow as too fast. The number of cars that pulled out to pass slow vehicles, and the number of trucks sliding to see what their trucks could do in the snow for fun was amazing.

The "slushies" are supposed to be fun. They are almost puddles to jump in. They allow tobogganning, and snowpeople. They are castles from the air and they are a joy. Until you are on the road, and trying to drive somewhere behind people doing a crawl. This is not fun. This is stressful and irritating and frustrating and I am still not over it apparently. So, here is my thought. Do what it takes to be comfortable driving in whatever conditions you live with. Seriously. Drive to the conditions means just that. If you can't, please don't. I will be very grateful. (And yes, I have had winter driving lessons...so that I can drive in the slushies ;)