Immovable Object

We finally dug out. Last night a team of Bobcats pulled into our apartment complex like a scene out of War of the Worlds, odd overhead lights illuminating rapid, somewhat ominous, movements. In short order, a path had been cleared roughly one and a half times the width of a car. Unfortunately, this path did not adjoin our garage.

The next morning I decided it was time to dig out. It wouldn't be easy. Fifteen feet stood between my garage and the mechanically cleared path. At a depth of greater than three feet, I was looking at a good bit of work.

Thirty minutes later, I was halfway there. I decided to take a breather, and spread salt over the area I had cleared. After a short break, I pushed on, and was able to finish the second half in less than twenty minutes.

Later that day we went out. It was an adventure to be out and about after two and a half days spent couped up in a one bedroom apartment with two dogs. We drove all over the place, checked the status of our new home construction, went to lunch, and saw a movie. All along, I was taking every opportunity to test out the "four wheel" in four-wheel drive. My wife drives a 2007 Yukon, which happens to be largest car I've ever driven. The weight of it alone calls for driving directly through snowbanks. It was a good time, seeing how far I could push it before my wife was driven to clutching the ample armrest.

The movie was a great mental escape. We saw "The Pursuit of Happiness", which was inspirational, if only for the number of miles covered by Will Smith while making the film. Seriously, the guy is ALWAYS running in this movie, and usually in a suit.

The parking lot was a sheet of ice. Walking towards the car, I was spending a good deal of energy making sure I didn't fall on my ass. My wife apparently had more confidence in her footing, as she was the first to point out...the immovable object. There, sitting on our tailgate, through the trip to the house, to the restaurant for lunch, and finally to the movies, was that container of salt. It was just your standard cylinder of Morton's salt, blue wrapper, white top. Or was it? How the hell does something like that stay on nothing more than a bumper through such conditions? I can only hope someone in traffic took a quick photo of the event to post on the internet with a caption of "Ghetto Salt Truck". Regardless of it's effect on the road conditions, I'm convinced it was a Christmas miracle.