This week has been a struggle for me. I live in Upstate New York where it snows A LOT. We tend to get snow storms here. I like to watch the snow falling from the sky, but that’s about it. Driving in it for me is a no no. I have a bad record when it comes to driving in snow. It doesn’t matter what car or SUV I’m driving. The snow and I don’t get a long. If you’ve read my book Good-bye Brooklyn Hello Upstate then you will know how bad I am at driving in the snow. If you haven’t read it yet, may I suggest you read it and then you can find out for yourself. And yes I am shamelessly promoting my book in this blog.
Where we live our schools have snow days. I like those days because I don’t have to worry about driving in the snow. Then there are days when it doesn’t look nice out, it’s snowing and there is still school. I dread those days. I do my best to get my kid to school on those days. More often then not I do a good job. I don’t like doing it, but you do what you have to do, right? Well usually anyway!
Tuesday of this week the snow was bad. Bad enough that there were some school delays and such. Bad enough that I couldn’t see much past our property so I had to judge whether or not it was worth it to drive in that weather. My husband and I both agree it wasn’t so it was a snow day for us. I was really hoping Wednesday was going to be a better day. Unfortunately it wasn’t. The road in front of my house didn’t look bad so I started driving my daughter to school.
Things were going ok until we just barely left our local town. I have no idea what happened with my explorer, it’s tires and the road, but all of a sudden it went out of control, across the road and into a snow bank. Thankfully some how I was able to avoid driving into the building I was heading towards. And some how there was hardly any damage done to my car. It’s possible I hit an icy patch with out realizing it. It’s also possible my tires went air born in the slush and all that. There are to many possibilities right not to say for sure what happened. And since it all happened so fast I’m not sure of anything at this point. By the time the tow truck came and got us out of the snow and I slowly drove us back home, I was a shaking nervous wreck who started crying. That accident that could have been way worse got to me so badly. Crying was all I could do.
Thursday morning came along, it wasn’t snowing and the roads actually looked good for the most part. Problem is I was EXTREMELY nervous about driving. I didn’t want to but I new I had no choice. This is where I had to face my fears. This is where I had to get back into that explorer and take my daughter to school. I was shaking the entire time. I made sure to go slow. Probably slower then I really needed to, but I was good with that. The roads were a bit wet, but not like Wednesday. Facing this fear was by no means easy for me. If anything I feel like it just proves how bad of a driver I am when it comes to snow and possibly slush.
I can’t tell you when this fear will go away. I am hoping soon. For now I have no choice, but to keep facing it and praying God will watch over me. I suppose on the bright side it has been over four years since I got myself stuck in a snowbank or a snow drift.