If there could be one truism about my life, it is that there is never a dull moment. I arrived home around 6 o’clock via an unexpected cab ride, following an unexpected bus ride. I got caught in a snowstorm this afternoon.
See, earlier in the day I decided to take my cousin Tosca to Stroudsburg/Delaware Water Gap, which is the last stop before New York, where she would take the shuttle to JFK to fly home to Vancouver. I took Allan to the bus terminal here in Scranton this morning because he wanted to be in New York by 1 o’clock to catch a bus from there to Boston to continue north to Maine for the weekend. He returns to Vancouver on Tuesday via Newark.
The weather reports said there was a 60% chance of snow, and I knew I didn’t want to go as far as Manhattan because I’d spent New Year’s Eve in Times Square before, and it’s asking for trouble to try and drive in. Not to mention the weather wreaking havoc on the roads. But I thought a drive to Stroudsburg would be alright, since it wasn’t that far — less than an hour — and conditions here were fine.
When we set out in the car to Stroudsburg (43 miles to the east) the roads were dry, but within 20 minutes or so it began to snow, starting with light flakes but gradually becoming thicker and blowing briskly. Eventually we had to slow to a relative crawl because it was turning into a whitewash. I’m very glad I bought snow tires last week, because we would’ve gone off the road otherwise. We passed accidents and cars in ditches — notably, a truck UPSIDE-DOWN in the highway median. Tosca was getting nervous, and I was gripping the wheel tightly, making sure I had plenty of room in front and behind me, and staying as far away from the shoulder as safely possible. (more…)
