Slicker than snot

"Slicker than snot," is the expression my husband used to describe our courtyard one day. I must be living under a rock that I've never heard that expression before, but it cracked me up. The worst thing was that it was totally true.

Since the new year, it's been all about ice here. Driving is challenging; walking is even worse. The temperature has been hovering near 0 C/32 F, so the snow is melting. Some days it melts quickly, and the ice is covered with water. Other days it doesn't melt much at all, and the water covering the ice refreezes. Every now and then, it snows a little to add some fresh slush to the situation.

The slush covered ice track is a lot of fun. In our case, this usually happens where there are walls of snow on either side, so driving is like riding a bobsled down a slush filled track. The tires get caught in the ruts, so steering isn't an option as one bounces back and forth between the snow walls.

The dirt roads are solid ice. With a coating of snow, they're not too bad to drive on, but when it melts and refreezes, it's almost totally impossible. Thank goodness the Jeep has 4 wheel drive with the right kind of differential and really good winter tires. One night we came home to find a small car blocking the dirt road. It had not made it up the little hill with the S-curve, and it slid backwards so that it completely blocked the road. Erik tried to help, but even with his rubber-soled shoes, he had difficulty standing still without sliding down the hill. He was not able to get the car unstuck, but he did straighten it out enough that we could get by. (We wouldn't have left her if she hadn't insisted that it was ok--her husband was on his way with a truck.)

The asphalt roads may or may not be better than the dirt ones. The larger roads usually get enough traffic and salt that they stay relatively clear as long as it's not snowing or blowing too much. The smaller asphalt roads can be trickier. Around here, a lot of the smaller roads have been three-track roads where the center track is shared by traffic in both directions. This works fine until there's oncoming traffic, then somebody will have to move. I feel like everyone's playing chicken all the time because nobody wants to take their chances on the ice. Since I'm the one driving the car that is almost always the one better able to handle the uncertainty of the ice or deeper snow, I'm the one who yields. Sometimes the snow and ice is soft and slushy (hard to steer), and sometimes it's solid (think catching an edge on skis). So far I haven't had any problems, but when Erik met a full sized truck on a very small road, he pulled too far to the side and discovered that the road had been plowed over a ditch. The truck stopped and pulled him out of the ditch in only a couple of minutes, but I'm so glad it wasn't me.