Driving’s P. M’s.
Often times we all have those moments when we have to do something that we really know we should either reschedule or just cancel altogether. It could very easily involve driving in inclement weather. But. Yes, an inclement, cold, wet, windy “but.” It’s a human nature thing to always think, “I can do it.” When in reality that little voice gnashing and gnawing a tunnel in the back of our heads tells us we are either crazy or an idiot to even try to travel on ice and snow, through mud, muck and flooding water or through wind that blows 50 plus miles per hour. Yes, we are all that person.
Forever we will always think all those people in the ditch off the side of the road will never be us. However, that does not stop us from having a series of what I call PMs. Or Pucker Moments.
I was very, very careful with my first new car. When it was new. But after the first time someone ran into the back of it and it had to go to the car surgeon, it became more of a tank rather than the princess. As a tank my 1973 and one half, (made in June) and I went places that a Ford Pinto should have never gone. There was a time when we drove off a teeny cliff and ended up in the bottom of a gravel pit out in the middle of an in descript piece of sagebrush where there was a party going on. Yes, that was one of the first of many pucker moments I can remember.
It’s amazing as we all get more and more candles on our birthday cupcakes, how many good, bad and laughable PMs we have come through. PMs where luck certainly plays a major roll. I do think that skill also plays a roll.
Recently winter arrived with fury to my neck of the woods. I had to get to an appointment that would take me a couple of hundred miles. I could have easily changed the date. I could have easily rescheduled without any trouble or cause nary a bubble in the atmosphere. But did I? Did I become the grown-up and use my head for something besides a hat rack? Nope.
I watched the weather. The western forecast comes on the weather channel every hour at ten to the hour. I waited several times for ten to the hour to come along as my appointment date got closer and closer. The red and blue blobs of weather started to seep into the Pacific Ocean side and then onto the western shores of the U.S.A. Did I think about how stupid I was for even thinking about driving in winter? Yes, but I am not the one that would end up in some ditch. No way. Does that sound familiar to you? Besides that, my PMs have amazing power.
The morning of travel started at 6 a.m. and it was dark and surprisingly enough the roads at my house were clear. Off we go, into the wild blue—well black yonder. About 20 some miles into the drive the road turned wet. Twentyfive miles in and I was on ice and thirty miles in and through the next 75 there was ice and snow and wind. I’m here to tell you the PM moments were many as I was sliding along.
The story ends well. Well at least the snow and ice were cleared off the road on the trip home. The frozen road was replaced by winds the strength of what could be described as bean produced gasses coming from the back side of Godzilla. Yes, that strong. So the pucker moments got a good workout going and coming home that day.
We can, and do, convince ourselves of many things. That just one donut will not lead to another. With sprinkles. That because we are approved for a half a million-dollar home that we can actually afford it comfortably and still put a bean on the dinner table every night. And that we will never be that person in the ditch in a snowstorm because we can drive in any condition.
I need to pay attention to my PMs more. As do we all. Those pucker moments, when the back end of your vehicle slides just a little bit, when you meet a semi coming at you in a rain or snow storm and your windshield gets covered before you can turn on your wipers, when a sudden strong gust of wind pushes on your vehicle and the steering wheel gets pulled from your hand for a split second… Each one is a pucker moment, that I hope I and you can learn from. And try to avoid in the future.
Trina lives in Diamond Valley, north of Eureka Nevada. Contact her at itybytrina@yahoo.com or Trina Machacek HC 62 Box 62101 Eureka, Nevada 89316
