I’ve lived in a lot of places and under a lot of different living conditions in my long life. Snow anywhere has never been an issue. I’ve driven in snow and often kept a shovel and sand in the car or truck, just in case I got stuck. I have been stuck a few times, but I always managed to use the shovel, sand, cardboard, and ice melt to get unstuck. Nope, not worried about driving in snow. And I have often lived remotely. Very remotely. Once with only a woodstove and kerosene lamps, a half mile from the nearest plowed road. I used snowshoes every day to cross the snowfield a half mile to the plowed road where I left my truck in order to get to work.

In the blizzard of ’93, I was working at the hospital in Oak Ridge and living in Knox County. It never occurred to me that I could not get to work. That is, until my car would not plow through 15+ inches of snow all the way to Oak Ridge. I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed. Did I mention “Snow ego”?

So the snow we got the weekend of January 11-12 did not phaze me. Not in the least. A couple of inches? Phew - that’s nothing! Yes, our driveway is ¼ mile long. Yes, there is a pretty steep hill at the end of the driveway to the road. What my snow ego did not pay adequate attention to was that the freezing rain that came BEFORE the snow. And the freezing temperatures after. We had plenty of provisions for us and all the animals, and we had no need to get out. But by Monday, my husband felt the need to reach out to civilization and headed off in his truck to Tractor Supply and the Co-op. No problem. I decided to try for the road and made it just fine. No issues getting up the hill on Monday. Armed with the knowledge that we could get out if we wanted to, the next day hubby headed out to Food City. The sun had melted some of the snow and the melted water was on top of ice and snow. It was very slick. He made it halfway up the hill. Then he slid back downhill. He ended up with back end of the truck on the dirt, and the front end on the driveway. Stuck.

My snow ego chimed in again. Just because HE could not make it in the truck did not mean that I could not make it in the Subaru!!! That car will go (almost) everywhere! Well, folks, I made it about as far as he did. And the only positive thing I can say is that, as I backed and slid down the driveway, I did not hit his truck on my retreat to the house. Repeated efforts had the same conclusion. The Subaru was not going up that hill.

We could have had the driveway plowed. But we had just put down some (expensive) gravel and we preferred to have it remain just where it was. At least for a while. Since my snow ego reassured me that we could get out when we wanted or needed to, we did not plow. Snow, I can generally handle. It’s the ice that gets me!

We eventually got the Utility Vehicle (UTV) to the top of the hill and back. And the Subaru made it out, but we parked it at a neighbor’s house this time. Our neighbors live on flat land. There is no snow or ice on the fields on either side of the road. There is only snow and ice on our driveway. With freezing nighttime temps, the slush on the drive in the afternoon becomes hard ice at night and morning. If we took the car back home, we could get it downhill to the house but there was no guarantee that we could get it back up the driveway until it all melted. And despite many tries, hubby has still not gotten the truck further than halfway up the drive! It now sits humiliated at the house.

Moral of the story? You’re never too old to learn!