as if it was a hummer
The longest winter in my life started on October 28th, 2002. It lasted for 6 months.
Coming from a city where snow is not possible, I was surprised by the first glance of my first snow storm. Pennsylvanians told me that I was lucky to meet an early snow fall. Six months later, they told me that I was unlucky to be in a white world for so long.
On February 17th, 2003, as if clouds had all fallen onto the ground, everything was covered, and the sky was so blue and clear. Nothing could be recognized easily. Curbs and roads were not differentiable. Cars all looked the same.
An original 5-minute walk took me 30 minutes. My whole leg was drowned in the snow. I was sweating badly in my jacket even though my mouth was smoking. I was in a high spirit. I forgot to have home-sickness. I could have hot chocolate day and night with this great excuse. I realized that I was a tiny tiny unimportant element, soon could be the same as the rest of the world - white. Nothing had been so overwhelming. I felt like a new person.
Friends are for building memories together. Old friends are for sharing experience in the same situation. Where were you during the earthquake? What were you doing before the blackout? How did you get your car out on Feb 17 of 03? My old friends in hometown can never answer the last question. My life has separated from theirs. I took a different route, no turning back.
They would not understand how water crystallized on my eyelashes. Some crystals were tears of excitement of growing up and being independent.
The above paragraphs were originally posted on Helium.com with a pen name.
Now the reason I dug them out and posted here is because exactly 6 years later on the same day -- Oct 28 -- I experienced the first snow storm of the year.
Damn.
I was seriously cursing as driving through the storm and stuck in the storm. You may have already learned my stories of driving in snow and understood how much I hate it.
Fall is the best season for driving in Chester. Classy colors such as golden, red, yellow are so pure and so proudly display everywhere.
Today they were everywhere including snow, which made the driving even trickier than simply (which is so not simple) driving in snow. Fallen leaves mixed with dirty wet snow created a horrible condition on the road. Even though the view was unbelievably full of oil-painting colors, being a bug driver suddenly could not appreciate the nature more than worry about my own safety.
Bungbung has been through a lot. As if he was a hummer rather than a beetle.
Just after he mysteriously recovered from lock dysfunction, he was playing snow yet again. No one was prepared to meet snow before they left their houses. Beautiful maple trees were still holding their colorful leaves. Snow suddenly came. The roads were covered with thick white dirt, scaring some drivers off road. Trees couldn't endure the burden and fell, blocking the already heavily messy traffic.
Bungbung's smile went cold.
So I made a decision that I should've done before Paola and I called for help, which did help us spiritually but not practically. We safely got out of the storm in three hours and went back to south (several towns away) to work at our desks (doesn't sound more fun than being stuck in snow).
I was a bit grumpy but not too grumpy. All I did was taking today's experience as a good chance to meet Ms. Solo who has a severe neglect disorder and frontal symptoms. Talking to her challenged my English because she somehow appeared understanding but could not follow any command as simple as "draw a vertical line" while she was totally cooperative and energetic and never frustrated failing almost all paper/pencil tasks. An amazing case.
Then I remembered what Paola had asked me just last week.
"Does it snow here?"
"Yes."
"Cool. I like snow."
"I like it too. But I am not going to drive to work in snow."
"Really? That bad?"
"Yes."
"So how can I drive to see patients?"
"You can't."
"We don't see patients in winter?"
"We write papers in winter."
It was Paola's first time driving in snow today. I bet she got a closer interpretation of our previous conversation.
Bungbung will not be a hummer. See how ridiculous they are:
1 comment:
Come to Atlanta
Come to Atlanta
Come to Atlanta
Come to Atlanta
Come to Atlanta
Post a Comment