Well the new year is off to quite a cold start.
To be honest, I’m not a big fan of winter – especially driving on icy roads or in near blizzard conditions.
After rolling my truck a couple of years ago after hitting some black ice on the way into work, my knuckles are whiter than usual at this time of the year. I wasn’t even going 60 kilometres/hour, but even that speed seems a lot faster when you’re going sideways.
Now I use my 4X4 (probably too often) and rarely get close to the 80 km/hr on area roads. Last week on my way to a Rotary meeting at Dunkeld, it was a blustery ride on a snow covered road. I managed to get up to 70 km/hr, but that wasn’t fast enough for a driver of a mini-van who passed both me and the driver behind me in one swoop.
I don’t understand why people are in such a hurry – especially during stormy weather. It was another eye opener coming home from Toronto on the weekend after having a Christmas/New Year’s celebration with Tuula’s family. While most drivers on the 4-0-1 drove according to the rainy conditions, there were a few who thought they were in the Indy 500 and just had to get to the front of the never ending line.
But then, the short stint on highway 410 was amazing. The average speed was about 110-120 km/hr. with many going even faster than that. I even saw one or two pulled over by police. I asked aloud what speed someone has to be going to get a ticket on that stretch of road.
But, although we started the week in a deep freeze, this winter is supposed to be a roller coaster ride between very cold and very mild (my aching bones will just love the swings).
As far as I’m concerned, winter can zip and I’ll try to stay cozy warm by our woodstoves.
The next key date on my calendar is Feb. 18 – that’s when pitchers and catchers start showing up for spring training. Ahh, there is a (warm) light at the end of this very cold tunnel.