Icy Sidewalks

We have had a real mild winter this year. We did have snow early and on Christmas, but since then not much. It was a little chilly for a couple of weeks, but the coldest it got was around 5 degrees. Not really cold at all when us old timers remember temperatures in the -30 degree range. That was cold. For the past week or so it has seemed almost spring like, daytime temps in the high 50's and lows in the 30's. If it keeps up like this we'll have to take a blanket off the bed.

This morning I didn't look at the thermometer but it felt much the same as it has for the last few days. When I looked out the window I coulld see that it had rained just enough to wet the sidewalk and that it had frozen. I didn't think much about it when I went out to scrape the frost off the pickup windshield, but when I stepped around to the passenger side I hit a patch of ice. I knew immediately that I was going down, so I looked to see if anyone was watching. Luck was with me, I fell unobserved. It was a classic slip on the ice, both feet went into the air and I hit flat on my butt. Nothing hurt but my pride.

I made the mistake of telling my wife about it this afternoon when I got home. She insisted that from now on I sprinkle salt on the sidewalk to keep other passsers by safe. She also said that I should be more careful. At least I took my pratfall in private. Be careful out there!