Cranky

We had our first snowfall of the year yesterday, and while it was minimal as these things go (around 3" maybe?), I've been cranky ever since.

I like snow perfectly well when I get to stay home the whole time, when I don't have to find the ice scraper from the depths of the camping-gear-filled trunk, when I don't have to nagivate our treacherous front steps, when I don't have to deal with driving. But I hate going out into it, because snow inevitably turns to ice. And I'm terrified of falling.

I suspect it's different for people who grew up with snow, who learned the peculiar gait of frozen walking when they were young enough to fall without hurting themselves. Me, I fell twice in the first two years of living in cold and ice. The first time, I slipped and bounced down an entire flight of marble stairs on my ass. My tailbone was so bruised that four months later my mother insisted I get it X-rayed. (Just imagine having to walk up to the intake person--invariably an 18 year old ensign--and ask to get your coccyx X-rayed.) The second time, I hit black ice on my apartment's stoop, flew over the stairs entirely, and landed on the other side of the sidewalk on my ass. The bruise was the size of my outstretched hand and lasted for weeks. I still panic every time my foot slips, and I've been living in snow and ice for over 13 years now.

I'm hopeful that everything will melt today in the sun, but the high is only around 35, so likely it will melt and then we'll have ice on the roads again as all that melt freezes. Wasn't moving south supposed to alleviate this problem?