SLICKNESS

"Snowy Lane with Crow"
watercolor by Don Gray

 There’s something strange about slickness – how skiers and sledders absolutely love it, but drivers on icy roads sometimes despise it. We drove on slick roads this morning, making our way north to our granddaughter’s school in Brooklyn (CT) for some special 1^st grade performances. Delycia is a skilled and cautious driver, but I still felt like our lives were sort of unfastened and at risk as we drove along the snowy roads. Perhaps skiers feel a similar sense of hazard as they race down slippery mountains, but they also probably love that feeling of carelessness and liberty. I must admit to feeling, on the icy and untrustworthy interstate this morning, a certain amount of apprehension, but I also felt something like a sledder’s high spirits. On a sled as a kid, danger didn’t exist for me, and at 72, I sat back today and almost started to enjoy the adventure of moving carefully and successfully on frozen roads. I think, though, that we both were glad to finally get off the cold, slick roads and into Ava’s comfortable classroom where nothing was perilous and all was delight.