Keeping It Between The Ditches....Life in the Country!

Winter's here!! The calendar might still say it's Fall, but trust me.....Winter is HERE!!

Truth be known, I like Winter. I enjoy inhaling a blast of cold air through my nostrils and having them stick together. I enjoy riding the ponies in the snow and tossing snowballs for the dogs. I enjoy bundling up and going for a walk, leaving a fresh path in the white stuff.

What I do NOT like is the ICE!!!! What is up with all of this??? Did someone steal Mother Nature's Hot Chocolate!! PLEASE GIVE IT BACK!!!!! I beg of you!!!

We have had more ice in Iowa in this last 18 months than I can remember in my lifetime. Trust me, I might act like I'm 6, but I'm MUCH OLDER! G

It all started in April 2007 with the great ICE storm that took out thousands of electric poles and left us without electricity for 5 days. Heat is one thing you do NOT want to be without in April......buurrrrr!!!!! Then it started up again in December 2007 and never thawed until April. It was horrible. No riding, walking, running dogs outside due to the ice. BORING!!!!

So, last night it started again! Yep, a bit of an ice storm. It doesn't take much ice to really cause travel issues. I was prepared! I live about 25 miles from work and I knew it could be a bit questionable when I went to bed Monday. If we were going to have blowing snow then Carrie the Honda would need to stay home (no clearance!!!) and I'd have to take the pickup.

I got up a bit early, made by coffee (yummy!!), filled my thermos, put on my coverall, boots and gloves and headed out to the pick up. It isn't parked under the lean, so it's covered in ice. While I waited for it to clear off - I fed and watered the ponies which were left in their stalls for the day.

The trip to work wasn't too bad. I took my time on the gravel (amazing feat for me) and made it to the highway. There were only a few cars on the road, which was good because I was going to have to PASS THEM!! JL, DRIVE ALREADY!! I will admit that I did actually drive the speed limit, which is uncommon for me. After I got to work I realized my wallet was still in the van ..... safely at home. Oh well!!!! At work I decided to be proactive and put some cardboard over my windshield. I NEVER DO THAT!!! I figured it would protect it from the accumulation of ice/snow we were suppose to continue to get until 6 PM this evening.

Well, guess what! The weatherman was WRONG!! I know, it probably doesn't happen where you live, but our weatherman can NOT be TRUSTED!! It stopped at noon. Not only that....it was warm enough that I didn't even need the cardboard! Oh well, I suppose that's a good thing.

The ride home was just about as uneventful as the drive to work. I did get to go faster! G
As I got to the median to turn onto the gravel I put the truck into 4 wheel drive. Now, I realize 4 wheel drive doesn't help on ice, but I didn't think it could hurt either.

I turn onto the gravel and driving along for about 1/4 mile when the truck starts to fishtail. CRAP!!!! I made note that it was sure nice of the county to dig them ditches out really deep this summer so the snow could accumulate in them. Of course that means I'm going down MUCH deeper into them. I counter the fishtail (successfully) and then it fishtails the other way, S! So I counter the other direction and sure enough.....it fishtails again the opposite direction. It was slow motion and similar to a video game. You make a move and your opponent makes a counter move. I had the time to actually access the ditches and count 4 move/counter moves. Yep 8 rotations of the wheel!! I'm happy to report that I kept her between the ditches!!

When Bill got home he asked me how fast I was going......I told him "I don't know"...which I honestly didn't. I was going too fast, but who had time to look at the speedomter!! GEEZ!!

Tomorrow's another day!! I think I'll give Carrie a whirl! (um....spin).....um ..... I think I'll drive her to work! VBG