A Good Day For Counting Blessings

The windshield of my company van shattered from the slush, salt and ice tossed over by a snow plow going west bound as we were going east bound. Both vehicles were in the left hand lane on their side of the highway. When I opened my eyes I saw all the small shards of glass covering my clothing. The windshield still held up, but not for long. I couldn’t have been more blessed. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

As promised I’m writing this dispatch from Maryland, but certainly not the location I had anticipated. I thought I would be at my final destination of Takoma Park for the weekend, but for now I am hanging loose 2.5 hrs away in La Vale, MD. La Vale is not too far from Cumberland, MD which I believe I blogged about before and since I worked in this area before, but tonight that is a blur. I had hoped to be munching on peppered mango from the nearby Caribbean store in Takoma Park, but after my glass of Hans Long Riesling over dinner from the restaurant next door I am ready to call it a night.

Like most days today was just as eventful. My co-worker and I set out from Barboursville, WV in the rain towards Takoma Park, MD (a 6 hr and 6 min drive), but were cut short when a state snow plow driving in the opposite direction put our windshield out of commission and into our laps. We saw it coming, but it was far too late and we didn’t know the impact would be like that of an asteroid or meteor shower. Thankfully Mariella stayed calm, but considering the sonic boom from ice and other material came crashing down on my side of the vehicle I wasn’t so calm. Glass found its way down all the way into my boots and in my hair. I am so happy I was wearing my glasses or glass may have found its way in my eye. It wasn’t as if we could have changed lanes, we couldn’t really see anything in the next lane over and again it was just too late. We worked our way off the highway at the first exit we saw and into an area where there were a few snow plows. Mariella explained what happened and from there the situation cooled over. I won’t go into full details because we are alive, okay and still standing. The state is going to take responsibility for the damage which has already been repaired and couldn’t have worked out better. For once dealing with the vehicle wasn’t a complete nightmare.

Tomorrow we will press on with our drive. As I tuck myself in for the night now I am just hoping that the weather gets better – though it looks as though this Nor Eastern or however it is spelled or called will be hanging out with us on Saturday and Sunday as well.

Snowy tree branches block most of my view from my hotel window. I kind of like them out there. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson