The Misadventures of Uncle Billy #1

First snow.

      Uncle Billy was usually a cautious driver in winter. He would load up the back of his pickup with logs so he had some traction during the bad weather. One time in late fall (long before first snowfall was due) he was working in the big city as many farmers do. He walked out the door after work only to find there had been a deep snow that fell during the day. He was very concerned about getting home because he had not yet loaded the truck with his usual 300 or so pounds of logs so he would not slide off those old country roads. Uncle Billy was dreading the drive home, thinking about that one really steep hill after he crossed the creek. The highway was narrow and the hill often sent many a 4-wheel drive vehicle off the road. Billy got to the first hill going down to the creek and stepped on the accelerator pedal to build up speed so he could make it up the upside of the hill with a light gas pedal. He was moving very well down and across the bridge and had the momentum to get up the next hill. The truck started to lose traction when he was about 90% up the hill. A little feathering of the gas corrected his track and he made it up and around the corner of the road. Uncle Billy was thinking all is well and thankful that he was going to make it home okay. No sooner had the thought left his mind, when the old truck went into a 360 degree spin out and slid down into a deep ditch beside the road. The front end was buried in the snow and some mud underneath the powdery mix. Billy threw the old truck into reverse and tried to back up, but it was not possible, so he turned the wheel to try and at least get sideways so he would have a chance to drive a ways down the ditch and hopefully pop up and out further down the line. The old truck would not straighten out so he was left in that ditch. He managed to get the door open and crawled up and out of the ditch onto the side of the road.
      Just as Billy was wondering what to do next, a very nice woman who had seen him around their small town saw him and slowed down her 4-wheel drive Dodge and stopped to give him a ride over to the town his farm was near to. Billy thanked her profusely and went to the gas station to round up the owner and tow truck driver. Billy and the driver got into the tow truck and headed back to the spot where the pickup was in the ditch. The tow truck easily pulled the light pickup up and out of the ditch and sent Billy on his way. Billy stopped at the local florist and bought a beautiful bouquet and then stopped at the woman's home, knocked on the door and handed the flowers to her. Billy then went to the gas station and paid his bill for the tow and headed home. Billy gripped the steering wheel and headed out to the farm, dreading the left turn onto the farm road and then the hard right and up another hill to the house. He made it home safely, but had to pry his fingers off the steering wheel. His grip had been so tight that his fingers had locked up. Now all that was left was to worry about his wife getting home from her job in the big city.
      They say that all's well that ends well and that is true. Every snow from then on was a nightmare for uncle Billy and still is today.
      Copyright Bill Weber 2018 and beyond.