There are a variety of ways of getting off the Hill

We live on a hill. Normally there’s not a problem, but this winter has been anything but normal for the Eugene area.

Ice and snow have caused power outages and dangerous driving conditions. Typically, I lay low and just stay home. These are the days when the only way I am concerned with are the ways around the property I walk the dogs.  Not long ago, I was clearing blackberry vines that had been choking the various paths.

Schools have been closing their doors exchanging ice-drenched days for potential sun-roasting classrooms. There aren’t enough plows or chains on buses to adequately deal and the hazards are not worth it.

And then there is the difference between the altitude where I live and the altitude on the Willamette Valley floor; we’ll get snow, and they’ll get nothing. In our recent storms, it’s the difference between our snow and ice not melting and their roads becomes safer.

Abandoning my Mini Cooper, I rely on my trusty All-Wheel Drive Subaru Forester to get me down the hill, and even though I have no doubt it could handle the steepest of challenges, I don’t gamble and I take the back route, the long way off the hill.

Now I’ve got SuperTramp’s song, the Long Way Home stuck into my head, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing as long as I’m not living the life of the lyrics. Becoming part of the furniture is not my idea of living a good life.

So, when need be to get to work, I crept and crawled  on the roads that don’t get as much traffic, but are flatter, going slow enough that I didn’t get out of second gear very often. Sometimes the way isn’t as important as the getting there, and most importantly, getting home again.