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02/12/2006 Archived Entry: "I-80"
I-80
As if there was any doubt. . .
Driving in the on again off again snow showers along I-80 this morning in Ohio and Pennsylvania, I am reminded yet again that I am still a southerner. Thoughts of the drive - and the big storm heading East - already had me a bit nervous (inside I pray for the East coast’s misfortune so that the Midwest is missed). And what I faced was hardly anything to worry about. But when you're cruising along at 80 and snow is coming down, making the road seem whiter and whiter, you start wondering: Hmmm. I hope I don't hit a patch and skid off this thing.
It all makes me sound chicken, I'm sure (and I suppose if there is anything I am chicken about, it's driving down the interstate in the snow). I've just been too interpellated: southerner who most folks don't believe is southern. Interpellation against interpellation. Battle of the fittest. My interpellative state loses out each time (MIAMI IS NOT THE SOUTH).
For now, I got home in time to watch this battle take place in the metaphoric scene of American Airlines Arena in Miami. Pistons/Heat. Home team Vs. Adopted team. South Vs. North. Either way, I win. But the Pistons are up right now.
Replies: 2 comments
Be the chicken. And stay alive. I can't remember the wreck I had on icy roads last year, but I can remember right before it. And I can remember thinking, "Maybe I'm driving slower than I really need to."
Be the chicken.
Posted by senioritis @ 02/13/2006 03:20 PM EST
You're not chicken. I learned to drive on Colorado mountain roads, taught by parents who learned to drive on Colorado roads when they were growing up. And I can tell you, some of my most terrifying driving experiences involve highways and snow storms, like the time a semi blew past me in the left hand lane just as I was entering a series of turns in a canyon.
The truck kicked up all the light fluffy snow that had been on the highway and turned it into one swirling, blinding mass. There were cars behind me, so I knew I couldn't just stop, which is all one could really do. Fortunately, there was a wide shoulder and my dad was with me and he could see the railing well enough to say "veer left," "veer right," "straighten out" for the scary 20 seconds or I had to drive blind at 40 mph.
Being Southern has nothing to do with it. Snow and highways can be just damn scary.
Posted by John @ 02/12/2006 05:00 PM EST