Driver's Ed

This time of year, the key to getting over the hill separating my house from the highway is the correct combination of speed and control. The road twists uphill toward a blind curve, with a sharp dropoff on one side and a hillside on the other. When the road is covered with snow or ice (as it often is this time of year), you have to get up a pretty good head of steam going up the hill. Too little speed and you lose forward momentum and start sliding backwards, and it's not easy to control a car sliding backwards down a hill. Too much speed and you'll fishtail and skid right over the cliff or overshoot the curve at the top.

I tend to drive on the side of the road farthest from the cliff, even when that's the wrong side of the road. If a car came whipping around that blind curve we would hit head-on, but fortunately, most people have the sense to stay off my road this time of year. A few times I've started fishtailing or skidding toward the cliff, but one of the advantages of living where I live is that I've developed an amazing ability to steer out of a skid, thanks to lots of practice.

Once I get out to the highway, I face a whole new set of challenges. This morning a snowplow decided to turn right in front of me without signalling and I had to stop pretty quickly on a snowy, slushy road in a car with no anti-lock breaks. Somehow I don't recall practicing that skill back when I took Driver's Ed in Florida. Good thing I'm committed to lifelong learning.