We're Better Off Just Dreaming Of It

I live on a hill, fairly steep one at that. It’s not a big deal except during the winter, and nights when there is an inch or two of snow. For some reason, this hill becomes rather difficult to climb without a good head start and a clear track to the top. What often happens is that there will be cross traffic when you get to the peak and cars waiting will melt the snow with their tailpipes; it freezes over after they leave and you have some ice beneath the snow for the next person. If there are two cars lined up, then you have two icy patches.

In other words, nobody’s going nowhere. It also doesn’t help that drivers will simply stand on the accelerator and let the tires spin. Doesn’t make the car go uphill at all, but it does tend to pack down the snow; the tailpipe melts some of it and now you have 25-30 feet of impassible road.

What brings this to mind is the cars which have been trying, with little success, to make it the last fifty feet up the hill, victims of not only the weather conditions, but of the drivers before them. You can tell, by the familiar noise, someone is hoping that spinning their tires will somehow magically gain the traction they so desperately seek.

I generally go over to the newspaper and get the morning’s edition around this time of night (after 1:00am, as late as 2:00 or so), but my car is in the short-stay unit of the local shop getting a belt replaced and I just don’t feel like walking over there in this mess. So I think I will gather implements of sleep and put them to good use.