People new to the South watch us get ready for a snow storm and laugh at us. That’s because they haven’t lived through it, yet.
The problem isn’t the snow. It’s the ice that happens as the snow thaws during the day and freezes after the sun goes down. Particularly in shady areas. Major roads get salted and plowed. But, the secondary roads don’t. It’s not worth the expense to keep a huge fleet of snow plows ready when we may not even get snow in a given year. Or just get it for a couple of days.
So, we hunker down and, for the most part, enjoy the mini vacations that are snow days.
If ice takes out power lines, people with fireplaces use them. They break out the candles and camping gear. People without fireplaces get out all the blankets and wear coats and gloves inside. And go stay with family and friends who do.
And, for some reason, a lot of people make what my husband calls a French Toast Run. I’m not sure why so many people decide that now is the time to buy extra eggs, milk and bread. But, those things get bought up quicker than anything else at the grocery. The eggs, at least, still need cooking. I don’t ever notice a surfeit of deviled eggs after a snow storm as unneeded boiled eggs get used up.
My employer gets hotel rooms for workers who live an inconvenient distance from our workplace. And, because I work for the major employer in my area, the roads from the interstate to my building with get plowed quickly. They contract with someone to do the parking lots quickly and probably more than once, too.
So, I’m packing for a couple of nights in a hotel after work tomorrow.
I’m expecting it to start snowing tomorrow night and turn into a “heavy wintry mix” that will make driving hazardous. With ice on secondary roads all day Sunday. They’ve already started salting the main roads. Since it’s not precipitating yet, that should be effective. There may only be 2-4 inches of snow. But, the ice part is still the problem.
The last time they put me up, my car got stuck behind a hill of ice that the snowplow left behind. It took me a cold hour to stomp and kick my way out of that. Now, I have a folding snow shovel in my car. And a long handled, heavy duty scraper with a brush to clear everything off the car before I try to drive. It’s rude to let snow blow back on other drivers if you can help it.
There’s a neighbor at the far end of my road who plows for us. But, the 3 miles between me and the interstate are sketchy. Lots of shade and it doesn’t usually get salted. I expect I’ll be able to get home by midday on Monday, being very careful on the last leg.
I am the Audience 