Jan. 29

Today did not start well (and for me that is saying something). You know those warnings about not sticking a fork into a pop-up toaster? I learned the hard way that the same thing can be applied to the early release button. After pulling myself up from the floor and rubbing my head where it hit the fridge, I decided to have cereal. This turned out to be much safer.

Binding the electrical burn on my hand and pulling on my jacket and gloves, I walked out to where my car was parked. Under three feet of snow. No matter. I kept a shovel in the front yard for just such an eventuality (that and if the coyotes ever decide to come back).

In just a tick, the car was clear and I was off into the unusually dark early morning to pick up my friend Macy at the end of her night-shift. It was while carrying out this simple act of kindness that disaster struck.

As I drove carefully down the road, watching for black ice, animals and kids road hockey games, someone else was being somewhat less observant. This person happened to be the driver of a rather large snow-plow, preparing to back out from the top of a recently cleared drive-way.

He was not watching for black ice and, as the fates would have it, just as he was backing out, he hit a large patch, and slid backwards carried by inertia, backed up by gravity (it was a very steep drive-way) and hit my front end full force, more or less taking it off.

The plow-driver had little money and seemed more upset than I was. I also had been thinking about buying a new car anyway. So, it came to pass that Macy got her first ride in a snow plow, I would have my drive-way plowed for free as long as I lived in a place with a drive-way and when I picked up Macy the next time, it was in a nice new car of prestigious European origin.