Winter Wonderland

How did you do in yesterday's snow?

I was trying to drive home in the worst of it down 148th and got stuck at an intersection when I had to stop and lose my momentum. Esther Maria had mentioned to me that the Mazda3 doesn't handle well in the snow... and I've discovered that she's absolutely correct. Plus my tires are at the end of their life with little tread and that doesn't help. So I was stranded at a Shell station, not wanting to risk the drive home, wondering how I would make it the rest of the way home. All I had was a T-shirt and fleece, no jacket, so I bought a pack of trash bags and put one on like a jacket and stood outside at a bus-stop, hoping to hitch a ride on a Metro bus. I had a nice chat with Cesar who was also waiting for the bus and spoke absolutely zero English. Cesar is from Guatemala, so I blew the dust off my Spanish speaking abilities and discovered that he works at McDonalds down the street and is going to school to learn English.

Ultimately it quit snowing and the roads looked a smidge better so I wish Cesar well and was able to drive home without further incident.

Now I'm at work and this is the view in front of me out the window: