This Just In – It is a sweet, quiet thing to have a few inches of snow fall when your power is on, the fridge is stocked and if you had planned to be somewhere, you can reschedule. It’s like a mandatory moment of Zen … if you have that luxury.
West Margaret Lane in Hillsborough. (Photo via Kenny Dike.)
Many of us don’t, of course, and this means that people who must arrive at work in person had to struggle on slick roads yesterday (and today). Including trucks that couldn’t successfully navigate the I-40/I-85 westbound connector yesterday, blocking traffic for hours and impressively re-locating the Jersey barrier.
I grew up in Central Connecticut where a snowfall like the one that’s wrapping up today would be a huge disappointment to school children listening intently to the radio, hoping for the exciting news that a snow day was declared. Generally speaking, less than 4” of the white stuff was never going to delay your book report or that science project you haven’t started yet. Get your boots (and gloves and hat and scarf) on. You’re going.
handle it each time a few inches of snow fell. We weren’t up before dawn milking cows every day or anything.
During the night, we’d hear the snowplows rumble softly down our street, leaving a small mountain of snow at the end of our driveway. Clearing that and the sidewalk was the early call task in the morning.
Our house was on a pretty good hill (we made a nice little ski run with a jump and a tow rope in the back yard) so our after-school entertainment was often found in watching our father navigate the turn into the driveway with his rear wheel drive Chevy convertible. He usually made it. Usually. NASCAR fans understand — the exception is why you watch.
We were returning to Connecticut on Easter weekend when a surprise storm dropped a TON of snow in the Northeast and along our route back from upstate New York. As we were creeping along the interstate (happy to be moving and not stuck) we watched as a white sedan rolled gently to the bottom of a small valley between the two directions of the highway.
The driver had slid off the road where there were no guardrails to stop him and, hitting nothing, he just started sliding down until he came to stop. We were moving very slowing, so we got to watch this slow motion drama unfold as my father commented that he wondered how long it would take for this guy’s car to be found and retrieved … how would they even see it?
The driver hopped out of the car, put on his coat and hat, then did what our driver’s ed instructions require when your vehicle is disabled and you need assistance. He tied a white handkerchief to the car’s antenna.
I can think of few examples of my father laughing so hard I thought he might explode. This was one of them. Almost as entertaining was watching this poor guy trying to navigate his way back up to the highway. Clearly, he didn’t have his mountain climbing gear in the trunk of his quickly disappearing white sedan. I’ll bet he never made that mistake again.
You’re out and about today and this weekend, please be safe. Slow down. Plan for crazy things to go wrong around you. If you have some, bring some cat litter in the car with you — good for getting traction in slippery parking lots.
Even better … wait, if you can, until the melting is underway. Keep the slick roads open for first responders and essential workers to get to work and get home safely. The thaw will be here soon enough. Make a snowman. Have a snowball fight with your neighbors. Check on the seniors near you. Get that hot chocolate going.
We need our strength. The Duke game is coming up in a week or so.
Jean Bolduc is a freelance writer and the host of the Weekend Watercooler on 97.9 The Hill. She is the author of “African Americans of Durham & Orange Counties: An Oral History” (History Press, 2016) and has served on Orange County’s Human Relations Commission, The Alliance of AIDS Services-Carolina, the Orange County Housing Authority Board of Commissioners, and the Orange County Schools’ Equity Task Force. She was a featured columnist and reporter for the Chapel Hill Herald and the News & Observer.
Readers can reach Jean via email – jean@penandinc.com and via Twitter @JeanBolduc
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