Holidays on Ice

(with apoligies to David Sedaris)

On Wednesday they closed the University early – at 12:30. This was due to the worsening weather conditions – and it didn’t affect the students since finals are already over. Well, I had planned on heading south to visit my folks and the lure of an early start overrode the concern about the weather. So, I packed up my stuff and got on the road about 1:30.

The snow was bad. The roads were bad. The drivers were not too bad, though being anywhere near a semi was cause for alarm. Changing lanes was rough – what with all the unpacked snow between the lanes. And I was nearly in an accident.

The driver in the right hand lane accelerated and lost control. I saw it happen and started to slow down. He slid forward and then executed a fairly neat looking 270 – ending up in my lane, perpendicular, and facing out into traffic. By this point I had come to a stop just a few feet away from his car. Fortunately, the car behind me was able to get stopped too and gave me enough room to back up a bit – thus giving the spin doctor room to turn even further and get out into traffic when he was ready. There was an elderly woman in the passenger seat and I wasn’t sure if I should wave to her or not. Seemed a little rude. So, I just waited patiently and when the way was clear I speeded up and went on my way.

Overall, I counted 26 accidents, including 2 with semis. Columbus was bumper to bumper when I finally got to it at 4:30 and 23 was worse, so much so that I didn’t get to my parents house until nearly 6:00 pm. Normally, the drive time is about 2 hours and 40 minutes total.

My sister works in Columbus and got stuck there when a level three snow emergency was declared. She’s still there, staying with a friend, though she hopes to be able to head here this afternoon.

The ice storm Wednesday night coated my car – and everything else. Pretty, but terrible too. Lots of downed tree branches and powerlines on Thursday and even more today. My family is safe, so that’s all that matters for the moment.

I’m also hoping it clears up a bit by the end of the weekend – I’m expected back at work on Tuesday.

Well, I’ve got some email to get to, so I’ll wrap this up.
Later…