In Like the Lion of the North!
March arrived like a lion this morning; like The Lion of the North!
I awoke early again – an hour before my alarm.
I’m not ready to blame this on on my age. Not yet.
Shower & prep.
OJ & devotions – Proverbs 29 and a preview of 30.
Prayer in the pre-dawn silence.
Let’s check. Weather is….
Oh-goodee. Freezing drizzle. Thirty miles to work in freezing drizzle.
Thank you for the extra time, Lord, I’ll warm the car.
At the curb: decision point.
Go the North route. I-94 is more travelled, the extra traffic will make for better traction longer.
North it is. 83’s not bad. New salt, good traction.
Sure enough, I-94 is busy; busier than I expected at this hour.
Two solid lanes, now three, at least everyone’s thinking the same thing: pick a place, stay there and arrive safely.
50 is fine.
The drizzle’s sleet now, hammering a delicate rhythm on my windshield.
Visible tire tracks where we all are running.
45 is better don’t we all agree?
Disagree-ers moved left, some with no finesse at all.
I shook my head at a bright-blue pickup in a hurry. Hope you make it, Pal.
Sleet and snow now, wipers less necessary, pay attention to the wheel tracks.
40. Twenty after. I’m early, no rush.
Snow. Big fat “gloppy” flakes. And wind.
My word! Look at it come!
35
Two hands on the wheel. No music. (Don’t ask me why, I just do that)
Four-way flashers in the ditch on the right. A blue pickup. I remember and grin. “See?!?”
No white lines now. Just snow-tracks.
I see a snow plow – in my rear view mirror – great.
The big hill. It’s greasy. Brake lights everywhere.
But no headlight light shows. Excellent.
That’s got to be a couple inches already! This would be a white-out in the country, my South-way.
Ease right – my exit’s up there, and I am NOT going to change lanes in a hurry.
Another snow plow – behind me. Oh-well.
Exit’s super-slick. I smile and wonder how many angels are holding my sedan in place. “Thanks”
Finally, the parking lot and an open place.
Can hardly see the building!
The snow packs underfoot – I leave my car unlocked just in case it’s buried when I return this afternoon.
Welcome, March, way to roar your way in!
Does this mean I’ll be on my hands and knees playing in the dirt on the 31st?
You’d better say ‘yes’.
12 Replies to “In Like the Lion of the North!”
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Cute post Phil,
You had me laughing as you described your morning commute. I got to go home early due to freezing rain. So today, I can really relate! 🙂
Glad your guardian angels were there, guiding your car and my pick-up! God is good!
Jonell
Hi Jonell! Yep, was quite the ride in! It felt like time for a little creative something or other, glad I’m not being graded! 😀
Good to be home and safe, isn’t it?
Do you wanna know why you turn the music off when you need total concentration for driving?
Because we grew up with parents who turned off the car radio (at least they turned it down) when the roads got bad or we were in a new location, looking for a particular address. I’m not sure if it was the need to concentrate, or the need to hear clearly when someone in the back seat saw something Dad and Mom didn’t yet see.
Believe me, we do the same thing. It was part of our upbringing! 🙂
~ Jonell
You mean I’m normal?!
I think I recall Dad saying once that when he was on slippery roads he listened carefully to the engine for the first indication a wheel was spinning.
We never had a Volkswagen with a radio that could be heard above the engine that I can remember, so I’m not sure what to make of that. 🙂
Anyway, thanks for solving that little mystery for us!
Phil—
Yep! 🙂
And yes, it is good to be home and safe!
~ Jonell
I am SOOO hoping for a snow (ice) day tomorrow…a nice sheet of ice and freezing rain on everything tonight…Friday off would be such a welcome thing!
Rindy –
Well, you’ll have to let us know if you got a day off on Friday.
Jonell
That was a great post! Thanks for the laugh this morning 🙂 I, too, turn off the radio when driving in bad weather! I have to say it is strange reading your posts each day, feeling like you are just a few miles away, and then realizing what your day must be like in the cold weather….especially since we are enjoying sunshine and spring temperatures (60-70) today in Texas!! 🙂 Oh…sorry,—not trying to rub it in! God Bless you today 🙂
Thanks for stopping in, Julie, and for commenting —
We do have spring here, when Mother Natures decides her kids have been grounded long enough. Sometimes it takes a while, and sometimes she says “BACK in the house!” for a couple days. Everything’s usually beautiful and almost-perfect by Memorial Day, though.
Enjoy that warmth! 🙂
Phil —
What’d they decide, Rindy? Didja get the day off? With your guys being old enough they don’t need you every minute the way toddlers do, it could really be a good day, couldn’t it?
Crossin’ m’ fingers for ya’ . . .
what a commute! I have not seen that kind of commute this year yet. It is good to be 3 miles from work with no more than 5 inches of snow here in Detroit. Great description though! I felt like I was in the other seat “commenting” on the people that passed by at a too-fast-rate-of-speed.
Any word on Clif? in Florida where this is not an issue!! 🙂
Hey… glad we made it safe, aren’t you?
No word from Clif – probably too busy chasing a little white ball around the green. 🙂
The sun punched through the clouds this afternoon for a few minutes; we all stopped what we were doing and went to the window to be sure we were really seeing bright sunshine!