Perpetual Ruminations

Saturday

I made it in earlier today. Surprising isn't it? Well, not really if you know the whole story, or as Paul Harvey used to say, "The rest of the story."

I worked this morning and got up at three, just like any other day. Only this morning, we were experiencing a blizzard. Winds blowing thirty to forty mile per hour, gusting to fifty, and light snow falling. Not a lot when I left home but enough to create some slick roads and reduce visibility.

Rhonda works the shift after me, and since  we have only one vehicle right now, rides in to work with me, the returns home until it's time for her shift. She then drives back in and I drive home. When it's time for her to get done, I drive back in and pick her up.

This morning, we decided to prepare for the worst, so she dressed for work and brought her pack along in, just in case she was stuck in town. We live twenty five miles away from where we work and shop, so bad roads can be a problem.

But, as I drove in, we discovered that the roads and the visibility were not real bad. Yes, the roads were snow covered, but they did not have big drifts on them. The blowing snow did reduce visibility at times, but not so bad that it impaired driving at reduced speeds, which I did.

As a result, Rhonda decided to return home, just like any other day we both work. She left about fifteen minutes after five. By five thirty, the wind had increased and it was snowing harder. She was just a little ways out of town at this time, with about twenty miles left to go. The visibility had dropped to near zero, and she experienced full white-out conditions a couple times. She was thinking about turning around and returning, but by this time, she was at our turn off, and that road had been better going in. She turned, off the main highway and started driving west.

This is about the time the wind shifted more to the north and increased to forty mile per hour, with gusts in excess of sixty five miles per hour. At work, I found it difficult to stand outside when the gusts hit, and inside the guardhouse, it sounded like the little shack was getting ripped apart.

Rhonda was still driving in this, near constant white out conditions. It took her over an hour to creep along. A couple years past, the state cut rumble strips along the white line, these helped her stay upon the road a couple times.

She drove back in and relieved me on time, but by then the wind had lessened some, and it had stopped snowing. It was still blowing snow and slippery for her return drive, but it was better than when she drove home. By the time she got to work, the sun was shining, the wind had dropped even more, and I could have easily made the trip home.

But, I had to send a fax, make some copies, and then talk to Rhonda for a little bit, I decided to stay in town and save a few gallons of fuel. Rhonda had brought my notebook in with her, so I'm sitting at the grocerry store enjoying a cup of coffee ad the free WiFi.

It seemed like a good idea, saving some fuel and having the time to get this written early for a change. If I was at home I would be catching up on work, shoveling snow, and doing all the stuff one does at home when they have been too busy and are way behind on everything.

But, I'm not home, so I can't do any of them things. I already made copies, faxed paperwork, and now I can spend some much deserved time enjoying myself in WDC.