snowstorm

This past weekend we got about a foot of snow. It sounds like more snow is on the way. At times like this, I am more happy than ever that I do not own a car.

From the car owners that I know, I have been hearing one complaint after another. On Sunday I watched my neighbors spend an hour or more digging their cars out of the snow drifts on the side of our street. I have talked to friends whose cars were towed so that the streets could be shovelled. They had to wait in line for an hour to get their car back, plus pay a fine and towing charge. Drivers have had accidents, they have had to dig their cars out of road sides, they were stranded for much of Sunday. But I got around pretty much as usual, taking transit and walking.

Snowplows do plow snow onto sidewalks, which don't always get shovelled for a few days. But stepping over a pile of snow in your snowboots is something I'd much rather do than dig my car out of a drift or shovel a whole driveway to park it in.

It is at times like these that I really have to count my blessings, and one of the chief blessings I have is the absence of car.