Road Closed

Once upon a time,
I had to drive from Seattle to Portland in a blizzard.

I was interviewing law students
for positions as lawyers in my government agency,
so I felt like I had to make the foolhardy journey
even though it was snowing so hard you couldn't see the road.
I was getting paid to fill vacancies.

Right after I passed the Tacoma Dome on I-5 heading south,
the State Patrol closed the interstate to traffic.
I was one of the last crazy drivers to get through,
though I didn't know it at the time.

My hands were too numb from the death grip I had
on the steering wheel to turn on the radio.
It was a rental car with no chains and no studded tires.
Only all season radials.

Seeing this sign reminded me of that terrifying trip.


And guess what?
Classes were cancelled.
A truck crashed on the road leading up to Lewis & Clark Law School.
Even if I'd had snowshoes, no one would have been crazy enough
to risk their lives to become an attorney for the Department of Energy.

The interstate reopened about three days later.
It was a white-knuckle trip back to Seattle,
but I made it
(without killing my 86 year old paternal grandmother,
thank God, but I was glad her cataracts
hindered her being able to see
all the cars spinning out around us.)

I'm happy it doesn't snow like that around here
too often. I like being able to see where I'm going.