What a Morning!

This day is not going according to plan.  Now that my breathing and blood pressure are back to normal, I'll tell you the harrowing tale of my morning.

This morning's events got their start yesterday when another round of winter weather descended on our mountains.  Snow fell gently and steadily throughout the day, with about an inch or two accumulation.  The driveway and the road stayed pretty much clear.

I have a doctor's appointment next Monday and needed to have blood work done this week in advance of that appointment.  Since we're forecast to have very heavy snow tomorrow and Thursday, it seemed that today would be a good day to get the blood work done.  Depending on just how much it snows, it might not be possible to get to the doctor's office any other day this week.  I also had a hair appointment scheduled for this afternoon, so the trip to town this morning would be a good way to check road conditions.  Al decided he would drive me this morning.  I am so very thankful for that.

We had no problems getting down the gravel road in front of our house.  The road is very steep, but there was not a lot of snow accumulated on it, and the gravel gives some traction.  But once we passed the gate and got onto the asphalt road, things changed.  As we rounded the first curve, there was some snow across the road.  And beyond that, the road was a solid sheet of ice.  Those of you who have been here are aware that on one side of the road is the mountain.  And the other side is the fall-off-the-side side, with no guard rail.  Nothing to prevent a car from just sliding over the edge.

And slide we did.  Al did a very good job of maintaining control of the car.  And of staying calm (at least on the inside) while I was having a panic attack.  I have no words to describe the terror I was feeling. 

Somehow - and I'm really not sure how - Al got the car turned around on that ice and headed back toward home.  And somehow he got it moving forward and off that ice, back onto dry asphalt.  We made it safely home.

I know that Al's driving skills played a great part in keeping us safe this morning.  I'm grateful for his skill.  But I also know that it was the Lord who kept our car in the road, who prevented our going over the side, and who brought us safely back home.  And I am so very grateful.

It's beginning to snow this morning down in South Carolina, and many of my friends there are so excited.  I do not share their enthusiasm.  Perhaps if I had never moved away from South Carolina, where it rarely snows, I would be just as excited as they are. 

It's a matter of perspective, I guess.  I have lived nearly half my life in places other than my native state.  Most of those years have been spent in places where it snows.  A lot.  I have shoveled more than enough snow to last me the rest of my life!  I don't like to shovel snow.  I don't like to be cold.  But more than any of that, I really, really don't like to experience the terror that I experienced this morning.

Mornings like this one are the reason I turn into a hermit in the winter time.  Why just a few flakes of snow are enough to keep me at home.  Why I don't go anywhere in the winter unless Al is here to drive me.  And mornings like this one prove that sometimes, even that isn't enough.

I did a lot of praying this morning while we were in the car.  I'm thankful that my prayers were answered.  That we were protected from going over the edge.  That Al was able to get the car safely turned around.  That we made it back home.

I may not leave home again until summer!

"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee; because he trusteth in thee."  (Isaiah 26:3 KJV)