As I sit at my desk looking out the office window at the end of my day, the first thought that occurs to me is that all the snow gently falling looks so beautiful.
My second thought, closely following the first, is that I will not find it nearly as beautiful after I finish driving through it and scooping it.
After my daughter calls to report thatwe are now in a blizzard warning, I know my second thought is the most accurate.
She dramatically states, "Mom we are going to have a blizzard in 25 minutes!" At 10 years old, she has not learned that weather prediction is more of an art than a science. Our blizzard could begin anywhere from 25 minutes, two days, to never.
After two mild winters in a row, this winter has been a rude awakening. The fact that I now have to drive the 15 miles from Adrian to work has added to my perception of this winter as long. Although I am fortunate enough to drive a sports utility vehicle, four wheel drive is no help on ice.
There are those who would argue that my own driving should scare everyone the most, but it is the driving of others that strikes fear in my heart.
When vehicles pass you driving 105 mph and you are driving 10 mph and have been fishtailing all over the slick road you tend to tense up. "Over driving road conditions" is the term that comes to mind.
I have found I feel safer off the interstate. There is just enough traffic on Old Highway 16 that someone would offer help if you happened to slide into the ditch but few enough cars that you do not have to worry about meeting Mario Andretti on the road.
Thinking "safety first," this winter I invested in a sleeping bag to keep in my vehicle permanently.
I briefly thought about throwing together a winter driving emergency kit. It is December, but I have not purchased any food or any of the other items needed to polish off my kit. So if I do happen to go in the ditch on my drive home today, I will be warm but hungry.
I would like to just forget about my emergency kit and go south! I feel the urge to book a trip somewhere - anywhere warm.
The Beach Boys song, "Kokomo," from the Tom Cruise movie, "Cocktail," rings in my head.
Avoiding my drive home, I do a search on the Internet trying to locate one of the destinations mentioned in the song. Typing in "warm places" doesn't produce any hits (no pun intended).
Not knowing the correct spelling, I type in Coco Mo. All that comes up is something about a German shepherd and information on a house painting company. I found no information about a wonderful vacation destination.
Not to be discouraged, I type in Arouba (which should have been spelled Aruba). All that search produces is something about the Austrian president and his wife.
A co-worker announcing that the "blizzard" is due to hit us at 5 p.m. quickly snaps me back to reality. It is time to quit searching for my fabulously warm vacation destination and brave the cold Minnesota winter once again.
Oh, well. I probably would not have traveled anywhere anyway. I just keep telling myself a winter emergency driving kit is much cheaper than a vacation. For now, I'll just have to work on learning to love these wonderful Minnesota winters!
P.S. My new travel policy is if I cannot spell the name of my vacation destination I don't need to go there anyway.