Come on spring

Jamestown 1966
I did not take this picture
(PS 2/18/11 I have been informed that this is NOT Jamestown, NY but Jamestown, ND)

I grew up in Jamestown, NY (south of Buffalo) and learned to drive in snow, sleet, ice, slush and all of that nasty stuff that falls out of the sky and lays on the ground for what seems like 9 months out of the year.  I am not making this up when I say I remember trick-or-treating in the snow and crying because my mother made me wear my winter coat over my costume. Somewhere around here I have a photo of my sisters making a snow Easter bunny on our lawn on Chautauqua Avenue in April. We walked to school in winter in those bad old days when girls weren't allowed to wear pants to school, so we wore snow pants under our skirts and had to take them off in the "cloakroom". When I got home from school I went back out to play in the snow (with snow pants on) and as I recall, that part of winter was pretty fun. Snowmen, snowball fights, sledding, tunneling and building snow forts...those days are gone.  I don't much like snow anymore. I don't like driving in it or shoveling it. Last Wednesday I had my worst winter driving experience EVER and that includes my days in NY, although maybe I'm just not remembering those days very well any more.

I left work Wednesday at 3:15 and it was snowing like mad with 2-3 inches already on the ground. By the time I got the snow pushed off the car so the windows were clear I was already freezing and my feet were wet. I started home with the heater blasting and windshield wipers pumping.  The heat lasted but the wipers did not.  I was almost home when the blade on the drivers side (of course) veered off to the left and stuck out from the side of the car like it was trying to signal a left turn.  I was blind in seconds. The windshield immediately turned solid white so I was forced to put the window down and stick my head out  to see the road, then my glasses blurred up and I started to worry.  I was not in a good place to pull off the road even if I could have seen the road, and cars were behind me. Disaster. I actually wasn't negotiating the road very well even with my head out the window so I had to take my seat belt off so I could lean out further. Sense of impending doom. Finally I was able to pull off to the side and park so I could get out and bend the wiper blade back into position, but when I tried to get going again I was stuck.  My tires just spun. Reverse, forward, reverse, forward, until I got enough traction to get moving again. Repeat that experience THREE more times before I made it to my driveway. The guard at the Massanutten entrance shouted at me "That's dangerous!"  when I drove by with the wiper blade jutting out and my soggy head out the window. Such a helpful observation.
On Thursday I managed to leave work early and got my car to the shop where the Saturn service guy - a dying breed - informed me that only 1 of his 5 guys had shown up, but if I could wait he would look at it.  Three hours and $360.00 later I was on my way.  I can think of a zillion ways I'd rather spend that money, but I know I'd spend even more to never have that experience again. I want spring.

I also did not take this picture, although I wish I was there right now

PS - I did a web search regarding my wiper problem and apparently this is a common complaint for Saturn owners - a design flaw! Too many plastic parts.

PPS - My weekend plan is a visit to the Museum of Natural History