The storm finally made it to KC at 1:30 this afternoon. By 2:15, the ground was covered. By 6:00, it was 3″ deep. Rooftops and trees were covered. The only things missing were Christmas lights and I expected them to be turned on at any minute.
All of that snow falling outside demanded a fire in the fireplace. So I decided to buy one of those little bundles of firewood that they sell at the supermarket after I picked my wife up from Costco. (I can’t believe that I am buying them! Has this move to Kansas turned me metro? When I lived in CA, I was a real man. I cut my own firewood!)
I took the Honda because I thought than the front wheel drive would be less adventurous that the rear wheel drive pickup. While we were sitting in the left turn lane at a red light facing west, three snow plows drove by heading east in synchronized succession: the first one in the fast line, followed by one in the middle lane followed by the last one in the right lane.
My wife remarked at how neat it was. I agreed. The light turned green, and I started to make my turn.
My opinion of synchronized snow plowing suddenly changed! I also realized that I should have brought the truck. They created a two foot high snow drift blocking the street that I was turning onto!
Since I had the Honda, I couldn’t just smash through it. Paying $400 to fix a broken lower valance would have made that a rather expensive bundle of firewood.
So, I tried to drive through it slowly…
Not such a good idea! Once we made firm contact, the wheels started spinning. We were stuck.
I put it in reverse…No luck…
back in drive… “We aren’t going anywhere”
back in reverse… “Hey, we moved a little!”
back in drive… “Shoot, I just got restuck”
On the fourth try, I was able to back out of the snow plow’s creation…
into the intersection! Fortunately, no one was behind me!
After four charges into the snow bank, I finally made it through.
During all of this, the light changed and the people who were on the street that I was entering could go. One guy in a similar sized car had been observing my predicament and decided to back up, change lanes and follow the tracks where the pickup had blasted through the man made snow drift. Smart man!
My wife went in and bought the wood while I pulled snow out of the lower valance and scraped it off the radiator with my hands. Did you know that snow is cold?
Oh, yeah. What am I doing thinking about Christmas lights? It’s spring in Kansas!
