Winter

Winter is coming. And with it comes the awful dread I feel as the cold clamps down, the snow falls and the inevitable ice develops on the roads.
About mid September I begin to stress about it. I get my gut in such a knot that by the time the snow flies I am already sick with worry over the drives I will have to make around town, to work in Bracebridge or any other place I need to go.
Don't get me wrong. I LOVE the scenery that comes with the colder temperatures, and every day as I drive past a lake on the left hand side of the highway at 7:20 in the morning, I am left brethless at the beauty of the mist that hangs over the fields that sparkle with the morning frost. The sun burning through the mist and lighting everything to a brilliant gold. The lake bright and golden as well. Words cannot begin to describe how breathtaking this scene is. I regret every morning that I do not have my camera to capture this and that I do not HAVE the time to capture this even if I had my camera. So every week I buy a lottery ticket and every week I wonder if this will be the week I can quit my job and work at whatever pace I decide. Don't get me wrong. I LOVE what I do for work. What I don't love is the fact it is a 40 minute drive if I don't speed. then back to my "Winter anxiety" I hate... absolutely HATE the morning winter routine. Get up at 4:30 to see if it snowed. If not try to fall back to sleep for a bit.. If it has, get dressed and go outside and shovel my crazy, sloping, scares me half to death in the winter, driveway.. then sand it liberally and after showering and a fresh change of clothes, cautiously drive down into the busy traffic rushing past praying I don't hit a slippery spot that sends me sliding down onto the road with no control only to hope I can avoid being hit.
Then, once safely at work seeing the snow fall creates another round of the sick to my stomach "crap will I be able to get UP the driveway" feeling. It makes winter a miserable time and if I manage to get through this one without dropping dead from a heart attack as a result of the stress I feel for that reason alone.. it will be a miracle.
'Nuff said.