Happier times and snow storms

I wrote most of the below before I had a talk with my wife, guys you know the talks. They comes out of left field and blind side you. Most of what she said was true, or at least I could believe it. She said I came in that night in a bad mood. I didn't think I was, but I could believe it. What I know she said was she was fixing dinner on her own and c ould use some help. That statement or a version of it was the reason I went upstairs to get them to come down and help. The reason I believe her when she said I was in a bad mood was when Nastia says they are going for I walk I cursed at them instead of just saying no you're not. My relationship with Elena is different now then it was before Tuesday night. It will take time for me to feel comfortable being around her like we used to be. The viciousness of the attack stil lingers. I feel a distance has opened up between us that I would like to bridge, but it will take some time. It's a few days later and our relationship is as near to normal as possible. I know it will never be like it was. She knows it too. I was at the sink doing something when she comes up behind me and hugs me, that is something I rarely remember her doing, I felt very special that she was making an effort. And one night, near that night I went into kiss her good night and I saw her smile when I came in. I knew then we could mend our relationship. The weather services has been predicting a storm for several days now. Yesterday they said it would start sometime in the mid morning hours and dump somewhere in the neighborhood of a foot and a half of snow. When I woke up yesterday I expected to see snow, there was nothing. All through the day I expected it to start snowing. I'd even told Teri I'd be home no later then two. At four, it was time to leave to go bowling. I get in my car to go home. I pick up Elena and Nastia and go bowling, still no snow. The weather service is still sure the snow is coming. About midway through bowling I notice it has finally started. A light white powder has covered my car and the ground. Just after we start our second game Nastia askes if we can drive her friend Jessica home. She lives up New Hempstead road, one of the biggest and most dangerous hills in the county. Living in West Nyack with my dad delivering milk to Valley Cottage and Congers, I'd alway heard him talk about the dangers of Sierra Vista drive and Christian Herald road. Christian Herald and Sierra Vista drive are curvy nightmares, while New Hempstead is mostly a stright hill, with a few dips. Once you get going down New Hempstead and you start to slide you might just keep on going until you hit the bottom or maybe the Hudson River. I reluctantly tell Nastia, okay. Jessica's games end before ours and she decides to take the bus instead of waiting. I'm relieved when Nastia tells me. A few minutes before seven we're do and We head out to the car. A couple of weeks ago my heater fan motor broke and I have been waiting for Nastia's car to get on the road to get it fixed. Until you don't have a heater fan motor, you never realize how much you depend on it in a snow storm. I wipe off the car of snow and the three of us get in. I grab a rag from my supply. Rags are one of the most important parts of my emergency kit. The other is a packing blanket, always great to keep warm or put under a tire, if you're in a snow bank. I wipe down the window and start the wipers. The window sorta clears. I put my classic 2000 Pontiac Grand Am in to gear and move forward. As I work my way out of the parking lot I am well aware that the two most precious things in my life are with me tonight and I need to bring them home safely. I make the left onto Main street in New City, the snow seems to fall a little harder, my window won't clear. It's freezing over either on the outside or the inside, I don't know. I keep wiping the inside every few minutes. Near the corner of New Hmpstead Road Nastia says she sees Jessica and she waves. I can't see out the front window. I'm not stopping for her, I can't, I won't. The car starts to lose traction going up the slight hill just after New Hempstead Road. If I'd stopped, I'd never made it up New Hempsterad, much less down it. I turn left onto Conger's Road and continue toward home at a slow pace. I pass the high school and prepare for the infamous S curve that I have always feared my daughters taking during a storm like this one. My car was never made for bad weather and everytime I needed tires I'd say put some on.The tires on my car are for show, not go. The tread is not at all argressive. In outher words the tire and the treads appear very smooth as apposed to all weather tires or the classic snow tires with their large bumps that will dig into snow and push rain asside, while the tire I have will begin to hydroplane very quickly. I head down the hill keeping my foot on the brake, giving the car as little gas as possible. We make it through the S turn and across the causeway before we begin to spin tires on the last little hill before home. My odomoter reves high and the speedometer says the car is going fifty, while we are crawling up the hill at maybe twenty. Near the top of the hill it is questionable if we are going to crest this hill. The speed drops some more as we top the hill. The tires grab some asphalt and we are moving almost normally. The little hill on South Harrison Avenue from Congers road is my last obstacle. On this one I punt and turn on to South Conger Avenue, it's slight grade and no traffic make the last half mile a relaxing victory lap. And yes the heater fan is getting fixed as soon as Nastia's car is on the raod. /