Monday Morning - January 5th

I used to live for the day, she said, before I moved to Connecticut. Now, I check the temperature before I do anything.  - Brian Andreas

It's cold here! I hear that it will be that way until May. I know it's going to be especially cold out when I hear the sanding trucks out in the morning at 5:00.  I am snuggled tightly in bed, warm as can be, usually even sound asleep....and then I hear it.....the dreaded sound....the truck engine, the beeping back-up noises....I cringe. It's going to be COLD! 

There wasn't snow last night. The snow has been with us for a while now.  It's becoming normal to see the trees and fields covered in white, wading through slush in the parking lots and dusting off the car before I leave.  I’m a New Englander now, after all.  This morning, however, there was a thin sheet of ice covering everything from a 15 minute rain in the middle of the night. Everything from the front steps of the apartment to the pavement lot would be an  ice skating rink. Coat? Check.  Scarf?  Check.  Gloves? Check. My purse with keys in hand, ready to go? Check. I’m ready to start a full week of work after several short weeks. Real life in 2009 starts today. Deep breath…..Monday morning, here I come!

Boots on the feet, I grab onto the door knob. I start out on the first stair. I grab the railing and hang on for dear life.  Just three more steps to go. Moving about the speed of a 90 year old at a home, I sneak down the stairs, one foot at a time, stopping after each move to steady myself. With every movement I slip a little and grab tighter to the railing.  Next step.  Repeat. When I finally reach the bottom stair, I smile for a second, proud of my accomplishment.  (I have fallen so many times already this winter. I have been bruised and sore for days. A tailbone to the corner of a iced-over step would not be pleasant.)  But then I quickly realize there is not a railing from the porch to my car.  Rats!

I take a step out on the pavement without anything to hold on to. I feel my foot slip a little……steady….STEADY….I tell myself. I regain balance. This will never work. I’ll never get to my car without a wipe out.  It’s cold.  My nose and eyes hurt.  Okay, I’ll have to do it….I look over at the snow.  At least I can get traction in the snow.  I step onto the grass and into about a good “shoe depth” of shoe. My shoes are completely covered.  I walk from the porch to the car in the snow. The bottoms of my pants are wet now.  My shoes are wet. Ugh…..I’m cold.  I make it to the front of my car. One last hurdle.

I have to get from the snow covered grass to the inside of my car without slipping on the iced over pavement.  I estimate about 5 steps or so.  Maybe 7.  I can do it.  The car is cold and iced over. I try to hold on to it for balance, but it’s slippery too.  I fall into the car a few times.  My coat’s cold and wet and dirty now, but I’m still standing!  It’s has snowed/iced before and I have come to discover that the trickiest part of getting into my car is this: opening the big door of the coupe and swinging it out so that it doesn’t hit the car parked next to me. Then getting back around the door and getting into the seat without slipping.   There are  a few holes in the pavement near my car that makes larger “ice puddles”. Maybe I do it wrong, but the motion of getting INTO the car seems to make my feet slip right out from under me. I’ve tried “backing in” and I’ve hit my head on the slip down. I’ve tried sort of “falling in” and I end up hitting the steering wheel.  I’ve tried getting in like there is no ice and have fallen into the door (fortunately that time the car was NOT parked next to me, or I might have dinged their car as the door swung open).  So, this morning I am not sure how to approach it. 

I decide to just get in.  No calculation, no fancy maneuvers.  I have made it this far after all.  I reach for the iced door knob and left up.  I pull the door open slowly but firmly. I take a step backward to make room for the door. The next thing I know, I am on the ground.  It happened so fast, I can’t even tell you how I fell or what happened. All I know is that if a video camera had been around, I may have won some serious money on America’s Funniest Home Videos.  I’m sure the look of complete surprise would have put me over the top.  It feels like I sat there for 30 seconds or so, just stunned. I’m sure I didn’t.  Now I was pretty much wet, dirty and freezing.  I could go back up and change into something else for work but I’m not a masochist.  I’m sure the bruise and the pain will come  later today or tomorrow.  I’m fine at the moment.  Just another morning in Connecticut!