My First.....................

Yesterday, I was introduced to black ice. I know the term but have rarely experienced it. I was on Hwy 7 headed for I-494 when suddenly the back of my truck decided it wanted to be the front.

The result was a 360 spin and two 180s in different directions.   The cars behind me were now in front, then they were behind, occasionally I caught glimpses of the now familiar cars out my passenger side window.

During those sluggish several seconds, was my life passing before my eyes?     NO!

Was I screaming like a terrified kid?     Maybe, I don’t remember.

But I do remember (Jim, you can relate) reaching for my hot cup of coffee so it wouldn’t spill!   Yes, I was reaching for coffee and still trying to steer out of the spin with my left hand. That did nothing other than to show people watching, I was attempting to do something. (and in the back of my mind, give the impression I knew what I was doing!)

I ended up in the middle of the median facing the direction I was headed. I took a quick sip of my coffee, put on a nervous grin and looked around. I had hit nothing, no car, no guard rail and no sign. NOTHING!

DAMN, I was impressed with myself. Other drivers also seemed impressed. I noticed several made special efforts to gesture that I was NUMBER 1 as they drove by.

I got out and quickly realized that I wasn’t going to just drive away. I had slid into a large snow drift. I knew from experience that if I had trouble with a parking spot, I had no chance in this situation. With a small camping shovel and a bag of Puerto Rico sand, I started the task of working my way to the highway. It was much like trying to get out of the parking spot but involved no drifting. Just spinning of tires, actually I should say tire. Only one would spin.

After about an hour of this, I had actually made some progress. I have moved about a foot closer to the road. At that rate, I knew I would be out by morning, if I didn’t run out of gas. But the falling temperature was cooling my enthusiasm. I was becoming aware of the 30 mph wind blowing more snow into my ditch and it was hard to keep up with a small shovel.

The solution appeared underneath flashing blue lights. The local policemen pulled up, turned on his lights and ask a question straight out of the law enforcement manual.

Hey, what are you doing down there?

My mind quickly came up with a large number of smart-ass responses, almost over-riding the rational judgment you need when dealing with law enforcement. I stared at him for a second or two, then pushed aside the “burying a body” response and told him I was stuck.

It was his turn to stare at me for a second or two. Those seconds allowed me to put on a silly grin and describe my handicap, I am from the South. It resulted with a perceptive smile and the offer to help me.

He walked around my truck accessing the situation and telling me how lucky I was that there was no damage. He said something on the radio, I think he called a wrecker and then asks me to try again. After a spin, he asks if he could try. I jump out; he gets behind the wheel and gets the same results. I told him to try one more time as I push and suddenly my truck is free.

He got out of my truck and offered me the drivers’ seat; I thanked him over and over again.   I could see in his eyes that he wanted to lecture me about driving in this weather, but didn’t want to interrupt the tributes. So I continued with the gratitude as I jumped into my truck, shifted into gear and slowly pulled out on the road. He stood there watching me pull away, cancelled the wrecker on the radio, shook his head and got back into his warm cruiser.

And me. Well, I was going home immediately. That is after I accomplished my original drive to Starbucks, sit next to their fireplace, watch it snow and have a cup of coffee!