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- If I can be a little more like Ernie Pyle (8/16/22)2
Not that crazy about the salt
As I was coming back home from covering the South Putnam School Board's regular meeting Wednesday evening, it was my luck that I got caught behind a salt spreader.
From Plessinger’s Hill until it finally turned into the Casey's on Greencastle's South Side, I wondered how long I would have to wait before I could run it through the car wash. From this Weather Channel forecast, we're not getting above freezing here until next weekend. Meanwhile, that salt will be eating at my Trailblazer's rocker panels.
This is Central Indiana weather, though. I welcome a substantial rainstorm if we can't at least get some sunshine. But beggars can't be choosers when it can turn on a dime.
If I drove my Beetle behind that salt truck, I would've had a conniption. I have let it go through some snowfalls before (this photo from Wabash proves it). But if any of the white stuff is on the roads, it ain't happening. I know better now, and it's not worth it.
All the salt is what I truly despise about getting through winter. There is also the black ice. My balance isn't the best with my Spina bifida, and I've always tended to shuffle because of it. I try to be careful, because it can mean busting my kneecaps otherwise.
Once we get past the holidays, winter is not my favorite season. Along with all the salt, the cold and the ice can get pretty old. You could say the same thing about 100-degree temps and sweating like a radiator in the summer. That might be me and a few others.
Let's look back a moment at the 2011 "icepocalypse." I remember being amazed after the entire parking lot at Greencastle High School had turned into an ice skating rink. After that inch or so of ice covered Putnam County, Headley Hardware sold more than 147 tons of salt. We didn't go back to school for several days. Everything was on pause.
Of course, some folks will readily recall what it was like during the Great Blizzard of 1978. However, after looking through photos of those 20 inches in two days, I'm a little less inclined to complain about my salt-covered SUV or 20 degrees Fahrenheit.
That being said, I'll be counting down the days until March 20. After that, things get more lively. If we keep on the right track, we can still have much to look forward to.
- -- Posted by Nit on Fri, Feb 12, 2021, at 7:44 PM
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