It's January and it's winter. Please take the time to scrape your windshield when you decide to take off on to the roads. I realize it's freezing outside and we want to get into our vehicles as fast as we can. I realize we don't have time to stand out there and scrape every little piece of frost off our cars, but it's very important to be able to see where you are going. One of the first frost-covered mornings I took my son to school early. I made sure I had a nice and big area on my windshield and in my rear view window. I also made sure I could see out of each door window as I don't like any bit of frost on my windshield. This was a day my husband had to drive to Buffalo and I was concerned with him on the slippery roads. Well, I needed to really only be concerned with myself. You see, on my way down a hill to JHS, I first encountered a car going up the hill on my side of the street at a higher rate of speed than is allowed. I braked and waited, and eventually this lady moved over at the last minute on to her side of the street. She really couldn't see where she was going, as her face was almost plastered to the inside of the window to try to see, and I was thinking she must just be going from memory up the street. She was on the right street, but on the wrong side due to not being able to see through the clear spot on her windshield, which was about as big as a bumper sticker. The rest of the windows were totally frost covered. So, I let that one go. Then a little further down the street came this little car, you know, the ones with the loud muffler, tearing up the like there was no tomorrow? I again, braked and waited to see if he was going to move over to his side as he was just screaming up the hill on the wrong side of the road. At the very last second when I was certain he would hit us head on, he swerved over to his side. I was so frustrated in my car.
There within a few minutes, was two times that people almost hit us due to their being in such a big hurry on a winter day. I'm thinking to myself, are you kidding me? I should be able to take my child to school, which is only about two miles away without getting into a car accident because people were too much in rush. We are all trying to get someplace whether it's work or school. Let's not try to pass everyone on our way there because we think we are the only ones who have someplace to be. We also need to drive for the conditions. I try to explain to my 16-year-old son with a learner’s permit that even though it says the speed limit is 30 mph, if the roads are snow covered and slippery, you need to slow it down so you are able to stop quickly if needed. Even on the 55 mph roads, that doesn’t mean you need to drive 55 mph during winter conditions. That is just the recommended speed on a good day. And these SUV’s out there? Well I have one too, and just because you have one doesn’t mean you can barrel though town and get on the bumper of the car in front of you. These vehicles slide on the streets too. It's cold, I know. My fingers are numb when I'm trying to scrape my windshield. But if we don't have an automatic car starter, then we must dress appropriately and take a few extra minutes to make sure our vehicles are clean from frost, ice and snow before we venture out into the streets that will be occupied by others. We need to be safe. We also need to zip our jackets (I'm very guilty of not doing this) even if it's a balmy 30 degrees. It's winter, people. The people who live in Florida are amazed that we Northerners think we can wear a sweatshirt with no coat when it's over 25 degrees. That's actually a nice day around here in the wintertime! Also, we are going into the deep freeze of winter now where it's dark when we wake up and it's dark when we are eating dinner. Make sure to take some time everyday to get outside just for a little bit to breathe in some fresh air, even cold fresh air for just a little while. It makes you feel alive again. Okay, I am done venting now. Happy Winter!
Debra Field is married to Darren Field and has two children, Andrew and Danielle. She sings in the St. James Church Folk Group and works part time as the Retirement Distribution Coordinator for the Weinberg Financial Group.
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