There was an unexpected snow storm today; unexpected as in it wasn't in the morning forecast, so nobody was actually looking out for it until it actually struck.
It was a snow squall, to be more specific. The temperature wasn't very cold, but there was a steady snowfall and blustery winds of up to 60km/h. Thankfully, the worst part of it was during the middle of the day, and when it came time to make the drive home from work, it was on the verge of slowly petering out.
It took me DOUBLE the amount of time to get home than it usually takes. The drive home was excruciatingly SLOW. Now, I can certainly understand, and am all for, added caution on the road when driving in adverse winter conditions. However, I am constantly puzzled and frustrated by how many drivers seem to forget how to drive with every snowfall. Traffic was crawling and practically chaotic in places because, it appeared to me, most people were either trembling behind the wheel at the prospect of going more than 10km/h in what amounts to typical winter conditions, or it's just their approach to drive in the same careless, manic fashion all the time regardless of road conditions. Then there are those who straddle two or more lanes while their vehicles slip and swerve all over the place. For crying out loud: If you get so ridiculously nervous driving in winter weather or can't be bothered to make sure that your vehicle is winter road-worthy, then GET OFF THE ROAD and stay home and let the rest of us get on our way! Can you tell that this is one of my major pet peeves during winter?
You know what I do like about adverse winter weather conditions (or just adverse weather conditions in general) though? Whether it's rain or snow, some of my best walks and outdoor time spent with Dante is during days of not-so-pleasant weather going on outside. Why? Because during such days, all but the most dedicated dog owners will look out the window, groan and decide that they would rather stay home and be warm, cosy and comfy instead of braving whatever howling wind, pouring rain or blowing snow is out there to give their dog a walk.
One of the biggest downsides of suburban dog-walking is that for every responsible, wonderful dog owner there is at least 5 irresponsible, ignorant, dimwitted morons who allow their dogs to indulge in obnoxious, unruly behaviour in public and harass other dog owners/walkers and their dogs. Unfortunately, I run into at least 1-2 of these idjits on an almost daily basis whenever Dante and I are out on our walks on an average day.
Well, when the weather gets a little nasty, guess what -- yep, all the idjits are suddenly no where to be seen! Hence, adverse weather days are days that I actually often look forward to (barring a complete white-out of a blizzard or something equally catastrophic, of course) heading out to stretch my legs with Dante.
After a protracted, miserable drive home, being able to enjoy an idiot-free walk with Dante certainly went a long way towards putting me in a better mood for the rest of the evening. The wind had died down and the ground was carpeted in fluffy, soft fresh snow. We had a lovely brisk walk without running into even one boorish idjit or being ambushed by someone's dog wandering loose on their front yard. It was a great workout trudging through the snowladen pathways and a simple way to unwind from a long way at work. Fantabulous!
Now, if ignorant, irresponsible drivers would just hole themselves up indoors whenever the weather is a little less than postcard perfect, I would be perfectly happy to cross another pet peeve off my list ...
0 comments:
Post a Comment