Yes, I've been gone for a while, and I've missed you guys. I suppose everything has its season. Well, the season has changed, and winter has struck with fury. We were forecast to have a dusting of snow starting last evening, but around lunchtime yesterday, little flurries began to fall and quickly increased in size until great flakes filled the sky and obscured the mountains in the distance. I detoured away from Washington, where I knew traffic would be snarled. and took old US highway 340 through historic Harper's Ferry, WV, sneaking through the mountains just in time. The snow had come 12 hours early, and the road crews were caught unprepared, so when the sun began to set, and the temps dropped below freezing, mountain roads were quickly blocked by accidents and cars that couldn't make it up the slippery hills. News radio quickly became weather and traffic radio as news of road closings and snarled traffic began to reach from one scheduled break to the next. I got back and got the truck parked, warmed my car and headed home. After I crossed the Chesapeake Bay, visibility lowered to almost zero and the roads turned slick. I got to Easton, where I would pick up my wife from work, and took a break 'til she finished. By the time she was ready 15 minutes later, the roads were completely covered with snow. It was coming down so fast, that even though the road crews were by now salting and plowing in full force, they just couldn't keep up. Of course the drivers out on the road only knew two speeds, recklessly fast and dangerously slow, but with care and some luck, we made it home safely, stopping only once to clean the ice off the windshield wipers. Got the car parked, walked in to the house and let the cares of the world wash away. My wife and kids were all home, the fire was hot and I could remember, if just for a few short moments, why it is I work so hard.
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and are enjoying the new year.
