We got our first hit of snow that stuck on Monday and for those of you who don't live in Canada, we're not all a snowy expanse of wintery wonderland, and my town, in particular, is not set up for handling snow well.
The town I grew up in, and learned to drive in, handled snow fairly well. We had a couple of sanders, a couple of scrapers (or whatever they're called) and the roads would sometimes get bad but we knew how to handle it. (Or, at least that's how I remember it.)
Here, we don't have the equipment to handle snowfall. Sure, we pre-sand the streets and send out some trucks with a salting type mix, but if the snow falls with purpose? We don't have the resources to handle it.
And because it's so rare for the people here, they're not good driving in it. They're nervous and that's fine, but there are also the dolts who decide there's no need for them to be cautious or careful and that makes it worse for everyone else.
I work with a spy who grew up in the prairies. (Where they get real winter and real snow and go through more of the stereotypically Canadian winters the rest of the world thinks we all get.) She told me that her friends back home still make fun of her for complaining when it snows here and that she had to tell them it's not the same.
It's something about the snow here, she said. Maybe because it's on the coast and so close to the water, but it gets into your tires and it packs and all of a sudden you're sliding. It's not like that on the prairies, she said. On the prairies you get a lot of snow, but it's dry and you get traction and grip and it's just the cold you're dealing with. Here? It's different.
Her reassurance that handling snow in Victoria is difficult didn't make me feel any better when we got a second dump on Thursday on top of our already snow-turned-to-ice streets and my car and I went sliding through an intersection instead of stopping.
I was going as slow as molasses. (Well, about 35) I'd given myself plenty of time and room to stop, but was on the smallest of slants and, well, thankfully, the cars in the other direction didn't start moving on their green and just watched me slide right through the red.
That's never happened before and I hope it never happens again.
So while the snow is lovely and awesome and I do love it, I'd like to request that it allows me to drive safely next time.
Either that, or it snows so much the entire city shuts down and I can stay home and cuddle under my blanket.
Four days of snow in November is quite unusual for us here on the Island, and they're telling us that La Nina will bring us a colder, snowier winter this year.
A few years ago I got myself some good winter gear; boots, gloves, jacket, the whole nine yards.
Now I'm just starting to wonder if I need to think of getting some good winter gear for my car. I'm still a little freaked from my slide.
I guess we'll see what Winter brings us.
5 comments:
I am hoping for what we have now, cooler temps but no snow. I respect that it needs to be cold enough to get snow on the mountains, but I don't want that to mean it's cold enough down here for that non-sense - there is a reason I live at sea level
Not only is our snow "different" as in being wet ice that packs into the tires etc... you missed one very important fact about WHY we can not drive in the snow here in addition to never having any.....
Every where else in Canada where it snows it's FLAT! Where we live there is a hill, stratch that, a mountain around every corner.
Two strikes why we can not drive in it that white crap that makes every so pretty but endangers the lives all around us. lol
So you're saying only higher level snow is allowed SnP? ;)
I never thought of that JS, we ARE pretty hilly! No, mountainy! :)
... methinks JS hasn't seen much of the rest of Canada!
And a good set of snow tires will solve most of your problems. You don't know what you're missing until you try them!!!
I don't think snow tires are in my budget at the moment, but I'd like em one of these years!
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