How bad was the drifting snow today?

You can get an idea of the difficulties facing drivers when you see people driving an ATV to get to the food market.

You can get an idea of the difficulties facing drivers in our area when you see someone driving an ATV to buy groceries.

Our trek to the Food Lion in Floyd was a white-knuckle drive at about twenty miles an hour. Our Subaru stayed on the icy road pretty well, but we barely had enough traction to plough through some of the heavier drifts.

Once the drifted snow got deep enough, the car no longer responded to the steering wheel and we fishtailed on through until we got to the other side of the drift.

Less than two miles from the house, the first car we saw was canted down into a ditch. The driver was OK and was waiting for a truck to arrive and tow him out.

Some roads were open, but Franklin Pike was down to a single lane in some places because of the drifting snow. It was especially treacherous because there would be long stretches of road that were fairly clear except for spotty patches of hard-packed snow and then you would suddenly enter an area that was almost blocked by foot-high drifts.

I resisted the temptation to pick up speed on the open stretches and stayed at 20 miles an hour. Even then it was touch and go when cars came at me from the other way and we were both straddling the center line.

The only reason we were able to get out onto the road at all was that our new neighbor John Hale had taken it upon himself to clear all the driveways in our lane. It was a pleasant surprise to see his big John Deere backhoe zipping up and down our driveway even before we had finished our morning coffee. It inspired me to take advantage of his generous act and get into town while we could.

I understand that there are some who have still not been able to get out of their driveways. It is unfortunate that global warming is merely political fiction. We sure could use some of it this winter.