As the day moved on and driving about the city, I found many intersections with pooling melt-off. It’s normal for this time of year with the ground still frozen and some of the storm sewers blocked by snow banks.
I ran into a dear acquaintance today at the grocery store whom I haven’t seen for over a year. Since we are of similar ages, we both agreed we haven’t lived through a winter like this in North Iowa. She said she was trying to figure out what the difference has been. I told her I’d already figured it out. We’ve had winters with a great deal of snow, we’ve had winters with a great deal of cold, and we’ve had winters with more than normal wind, but this winter we have had all three happen during one winter season. She agreed on all points. She went on to say how much she disliked March because of the mud and frost boils.
So many of our streets are showing signs of frost boils and potholes, and I’m already learning where they are so I don’t drive through them. They can give you quite a jolt even when driving at a slower speed. We are approaching the Spring Equinox and those who are driving east in the morning and west in the evening are finding they can hardly see the stop lights. Since most of our streets and highways are similar to a grid, the straight east sun rising is blinding as well as a straight west sun setting. I remember reading somewhere that there are more accidents during the times of the Spring and Fall Equinox due to the sun hampering visibility.
My acquaintance also mentioned how when she was young and dropped off by the school bus one mile from her family’s farm, remembering the mud on the gravel roads during the thaw was miserable. I as well remember walking on gravel roads to school and encountering the bigger than life mud puddles. At a young age they seemed like ponds. I’m sure many of you have similar memories of living with the messy Spring thaw. It seems today, children don’t have so far to walk to catch their busses. I think a little more walking would do some good for the rise in over-weight school children. The weight problem with children seems to be more the norm these days than the exception.
I noticed some children doing some naughty things yesterday and I thought to myself, “Where are their parents and why would they even think of doings such mischievous things?” We as a society must step back and take a good look at what’s happening with our young and start taking active steps to curb such behaviors. If we don’t start taking steps now, we will find in time our society will have jumped from a dirty puddle into a muddy pond.
