This winter was my first full winter in Minnesota. Not sure how to feel about it, but I must say it leaves me wanting sand, sun and palm trees all the more. :) According to the calendar, (and not native Minnesotans) spring is around the corner. The weather around here is taunting us all with above freezing temperatures and partly sunny days! It’s been quite nice. But, no sooner do we start to enjoy these balmy days and it drops 20 degrees and snows! Hence, ice has been a prominent factor in walking and driving conditions. I, myself, have had a few encounters…. None of them flattering….
One of the first times spring peeked its head around the corner, I decided that it was okay to “run” the garbage outside in just my pjs (consisting of sweats and a t-shirt and a zip-up hoodie). I threw on some shoes that were by the door and trotted outside and through the backyard that quite slippery considering it had melted and frozen up again. Our path through the yard to our cars became a little slushy and then froze up, creating frozen footprints and uneven ground. I decided just to run across the untouched snow to avoid any calamity (see, I was attempting to be cautious). I literally ran through the yard and past the cars and thought I had reached the trash in the alley in the clear and then WHAM! Yeah, that “wham” was me slipping on the ice, going airborne and landing on my hip and knee. I bounced across the ice at the end of our driveway… garbage still in hand. When I stopped, I blinked and looked around. Garbage was safe and as far as I could tell, no one had seen me… I hoped. I stood up, limped to the trash, deposited it in the receptacle and then limped my way carefully and quickly back to the house thinking that would have looked really cool on video! I had a bruise on my hip for weeks. It sucked.
Scenario number 2. It was a common occurrence for me to get stuck in my driveway when it snowed. I don’t have 4-wheel drive in my new vehicle (a mistake I won’t make again) and so when it snowed at all, I would get about ¾ way up my drive and then the tires would just spin. It was a royal pain but it also allowed me to get some quality shoveling time in. Just a quick fyi… our drive way is about 20 feet long and about 10 foot wide with a slight incline (not large at all). So one day, it snowed thick and heavy all day. I got stuck 2 times on my way home. Once it took me about 4 light changes to get out of this intersection and the second time it was about 3 light changes and some people got out of their cars and pushed me out of the intersection. Dumb. So, I got home and got stuck in the driveway (of course). I was shoveling my frustrations away and whoops! I apparently thought it was appropriate to bow on one knee to pay my respects to the crap that kept falling and covering up everything I was shoveling. Under all the white crap was ice. So, I took an involuntary knee and another nasty bruise.
My last direct contact with the nice ice (besides all the slipping, sliding, arm flailing and wobbling that happened everyday) was a few days ago when I got home from a long day at work. It had been sunny that day and probably reached 35 degrees or so. I was in okay spirits as I opened my car door and put one foot out on the ground. As I shifted my weight to remove myself from the vehicle, I feel my foot slide and then next thing I know, I’m doing some form of the splits. I have one leg in the car and the other on my knee on the ice. I couldn’t help but laugh. This whole winter I have slipped and skidded and even almost fell once in the alley with a short skirt and boots on (no I wasn’t hooking). I know I haven’t been the only girl in our house that has done some slipping and sliding. I just really hope that our neighbors haven’t been in cahoots with each other to see who can get the Funniest Home Video! Yes…. I cannot wait until spring really gets here!!!
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