I go back to work on Monday, so technically this is the last day of my vacation and the next two days are a perfectly ordinary weekend. In fact, my vacation is over now, because I would be home from work by this time if in fact I had gone to work today (still feeling a little gleeful that I did not). Therefore, I will feel free to make this yet another Lame Post Friday.
In fact, I went adventuring today. First I walked my dog Tabby to the post office to mail some postcards to friends and family. It began snowing as we left, and the snow came down thicker and thicker as we went. Tabby used to take exception to precipitation. When she felt rain or snow on her back, she would stop walking and look at me, apparently expecting to be magically transported out of the situation. Wouldn’t that be nice? Today, however, she walked along nicely, stopping to sniff the usual number of times.
I found myself laughing as the snow got thicker and thicker. Big, fat flakes and lots of them. It’s just my weird thing, laughing at bad weather (OK, one of my weird things, shut up). As we passed a lady headed into M&T Bank, I said, “I heard it was supposed to snow today,” in a conversational tone, as if I was wondering if it would.
“I didn’t believe them,” she said.
“Well, those weather guys don’t always get it right,” I said.
A short time after I got back home I got into my vehicle to drive to Utica, NY. I wore my insulated sweatshirt, because my good winter coat was still wet. I put the hood up instead of looking for a dry hat. I foolishly forgot my gloves so hoped I could get away without brushing off my vehicle. I could.
My Trailblazer was set on “auto,” which is better than 2-wheel-drive but not as good as 4-wheel drive. I didn’t think I needed 4-wheel drive and, anyways, you’re not supposed to go over 45 m.p.h in 4-wheel drive. I headed for the highway. The streets in Herkimer were not very good, and people were driving surprisingly slow, and not pulling out in front of each other at the side streets. I was impressed.
Out on the highway, I felt I had best go slow myself. I could have left it in 4-wheel drive, because I did not go over 45 at all. There was a car behind me, following pretty close at first. I couldn’t worry about him. The last time I went faster than I wanted to because I was worried about the guy behind me, I spun out in a most terrifying fashion. That was on ice. At least this was just snow.
By the time I got to Schuyler, visibility was terrible. I questioned my decision to leave the house. Then I thought of the saying, “If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes,” to which I often add, “or drive five miles.” I decided the visibility was really no worse than nighttime. I could see directly in front of me, just not much further.
As I got closer to North Utica, things improved. There was still lots of snow, but I could see further. Now all I had to worry about was traffic on Genessee Street and the fact that I did not know where on Genessee Street my destination was. I had a house number but knew I could not count on numbers being readily visible.
Well, as usual, I persevered. I only had to circle around three times, and in Utica circling around is fun. I enjoyed looking at the houses I drove by. I felt triumph when I reached my destination. Then frustration when I realized that where I had pulled in was in fact the driveway for the house next door. Then triumph once again as I noticed the parking lots adjoined.
Perhaps tomorrow I will write about what my destination was and what I did there. Happy Friday, everybody.
Mohawk Valley Girl 