Winter driving

"I wish we had a car," one of Julie's international friends remarked on Thanksgiving. The days were growing chilly, and the girls had to walk to their college classes. Driving a car, they reasoned, would be much safer than walking on icy sidewalks.

We were thankful they didn't have a car! Driving on treacherous roads is inevitable in Michigan in the wintertime.  But the experience often produces a bigger adrenaline rush than riding a roller-coaster at the theme park! Most non-Michiganders (i.e. those from warmer climates) end up in the ditch with the first skiff of snow.

Even those of us born and raised in a state where we store snow-scrapers in our trunks year-round find ourselves in a snowbank all too often. Shortly after rifle season, we polish up our stories of the time we did a complete 360 [the car spun 360˚], or slid through a stop sign,  or got stuck in the driveway. Even the best drivers have winter-driving stories, just as anyone who's passed segment one of driver's training has a repertoire of good (or bad) car-deer adventures.

Snowy roads are a part of living in Michigan. But along with the hassle of scraping windshields and creeping down the highway at thirty miles per hour, inclement weather does have one perk--the occasional snow day from school!