Since I am a native of the Pacific Northwest, I am sure I am an excellent driver in the snow.  The time I slid into a ravine and had to walk over a mile in my thin power suit and thinner leather heels was a pure fluke.  It did teach me to carry boots, socks, a hat and rain gear in the box in the trunk during the winter. 

We all have our favorite snow stories.  On the day after a big snow dump, I ventured to Fred Meyer for milk. (There was no milk.)  I saw a woman pushing an overfull cart and pulling another full cart.  Not a single nutritious item was in either cart.  She clearly had a phobia that ding dongs would cease to exist because of the snow.  I asked her if she needed help getting her carts to check out.  She looked at me suspiciously and her eyes darted to her treasures.  She moved on without word.

Getting home from work is truly a memorable adventure.  It is a dodge-car experience. People drive through shrubbery and over lawns to get past other cars.  Kent is flanked by two hills and we have no snow equipment.  The drivers are on their own. 

We have renamed a hill on 124^th Street, Emigrant Hill.  I approached the hill during the last snow and saw three cars parked in different orientations on the hill.  Each car had people standing around the car.  Clearly I couldn’t pass them safely up the hill.   I parked at the bottom and walked up to the first car.  I tried to explain they needed to get back in their car and back it down the hill or onto the side of the road.  I tried to explain how dangerous it was to stand in the road.  Ironically, I was standing in the road trying to get them to understand how stupid it was to stand on the snowy hill.

It took over an hour to get the three cars off the hill and the people out of the way.  I hurried down the hill.  I had eight new people in my van to ferry home.  I drove right up the hill.  The emigrants thought I was amazing.  Later, my husband came home with a similar story about Emigrant Hill. 

I once cross-country skied six miles to Boeing because Boeing does not consider snow a reason to miss work.  I was with two other people in the office out of three hundred.  The cafeteria was open and the factory was running.  Most of the shop people, security and cafeteria people made it in.  A man from the shop picked me up and took me home in his four-wheel drive jeep.  He said all the people who work in the shop have a four-wheel drive vehicles to make it to work because Boeing doesn’t care about the snow. 

I quickly bought a four-wheel drive Subaru.  I would like to think I am prepared for the snow with extra water, cans of soup and a propane stove.  One Winter my boys and I were without power for over a week and we were suffering.  My boys and I pitched a winter tent in the living room and were winter camping in the house. 

The perfect snow scenario is getting home before the storm hits, sipping cocoa as you watch the snowfall, there is milk in the fridge and soup in the freezer.  You have heat, power and old movies.  As you are lounging about, the neighbor kids appear in your back yard because they have worn out the snow in their yards.  You can’t get to work, school is cancelled, appointments are postponed.  A free day or two all for you.  Snow days can be so great.