A funny thing happened on the way to the tollway

Yesterday morning, Chicago was able to see the sunrise for the first time in several weeks. Allison and I got to enjoy it together.

From a ditch.

Just before getting on the tollway, we were traveling eastbound in the lefthand lane. I was following the car in front of me at a "safe" distance, but needed to merge into the other lane within about half a mile. I spotted an opening and put on my turning signal. In the time it took me to begin turning the wheel, the gap in the other lane began to narrow as traffic slowed down and the car in front of me came to a quick stop. I put my foot on the brakes and the anti-lock device kicked in without slowing us down at all. In a split second, knowing that I didn't want to be in an accident or have to deal with the insurance companies, I decided to bail out. I pulled the steering wheel around hard to the left and my tires found traction just in time to angle the car through the bank of plowed snow and ice and down into the ditch separating the two directions of traffic.

We came to an abrupt, but not instantaneous, stop. The car kept running, and Allison and I were both fine. Unfortunately, the car was entrenched in the snow deep enough that we weren't going to get out on our own.

As we pulled out our phones to inform our respective employers that we would be at least a few minutes late, a police officer pulled up behind us to block off traffic and offered to call us a tow. We gladly accepted the help. She went back to her cruiser and Allison and I sat back to wait. We tried to make ourselves comfortable and watched as the sun began to peak over the treetops and fill the cold, clear sky. I sipped my coffee and put on my sunglasses while Allison pulled out her makeup bag. It was a strangely calm feeling to be sitting there, not able to do anything to help our situation, but still knowing that someone was taking care of everything.

We continued to watch the roads while waiting for the tow truck to arrive and listened to the radio to see if we would make the morning traffic report. (We did!) I pondered a dozen scenarios in my mind to see if there was anything that I could have done differently and decided that my course of action was the best. In the span of about 20 minutes, we watched another two cars touch bumpers, a 4-6 car pileup going the opposite direction, and at least two other cars spin out while trying to stop. I don't want to say that I was happy to see so many accidents and near-misses, but I guess I took some solace in knowing that I wasn't the only victim of the slick roadways. The city was already out of salt for the winter, and was laying sand instead. At only 10 degrees, that just couldn't keep the roads from freezing. (A quick note about so-called "black ice": this is a terrible and misleading name. It should be called "invisible ice.")

The police officer came up once again to tell us that the tow truck was on its way, but that it was "stuck in traffic." With the officer blocking one lane of traffic behind us, I could guess why. Nonetheless, it arrived soon thereafter. The driver was quick and helpful, and in a few short minutes we were out of the ditch. We thanked and paid the driver, then got on our way.

Everything was cleaned up almost as quickly as it had all begun, with the only lasting mark being the 6 foot wide channel cut into the snow along the side of the road. It was not at all how the morning was supposed to unfold, but I was reminded how much I love my wife by the fact that we could both take it in stride and laugh at the situation.

I'm looking forward to the many miles that still lay ahead of us.