Let it Snow!

Winter is fast approaching in these mountains.  Its only the end of October and already we are preparing for the first snowstorm of the season and apparently its going to be a big one. this reminds of our winter 4 years ago when our first snowfall was right before Halloween.  That was a bad winter.  The snowstorms that year did not let up at all.  I still had my mustang then and nothing teaches you how to be a good snow driver quite like owning a rear wheel drive V8 sports car in the windy snowy, icey, steep mountain roads in a state that has little to no budget for snow removal.  after that winter I sold my mustang and bought a much more practical AWD truck with snow tires! Thank the Goddess i had sense in my head bc for the next winter I moved out to rural Madison County into a remote area not far from the TN border that has a reputation for being one of the snowiest areas of these mountains.  Living out there prepared me for whatever is to come.  Being in such a remote area pushed me to my limits of solitude.  One of my closest friends lived out there also and after 2 bad winters being out in those mountains we were both pushed over the edge and left.  both of us live in rural mountainous areas still but they arent nearly as bad as where we were.  This will be my first winter in the Green River area.  I have never lived this far south in the mountains.  but Im told by all the locals here not to underestimate the fact that its south.  We sit at the top of the high peaks of the gorge and this pocket gets alot of snow from the precipitation further south of us and the cold air pushing up the gorge from the West.  We also get the worst ice storms that the area sees bc of it.  More so further south into Saluda and Tryon area, but this area sees its share of ice storms as well and can often be difficult to navigate when mixing the ice storms with the snow pushing from the west.  Im just glad that i live at the top of the Gorge and not the bottom.  If I had to drive up the icey Saluda incline everyday into Asheville I would be a wreck.  I remember the horror stories from the first couple winters I lived here about all the times that there was no coming up or leaving the mountains because the Saluda incline was closed down due to horrible accidents where cars were flipped and 18 wheelers were jack knifed  almost everyday because of the ice coming up the gorge.  I dont know what to expect.  im use to the snow of Madison county and havent had alot of experience with heavy ice.  Its much easier to drive on snow than ice.  Actually its almost impossible to drive on ice.  Even with chains on your tires, its still difficult.  I learned that in Madison Co also.  everyday I had to drive into Asheville which was about 40 miles south east of me and I would hit horrible iced over areas in between the mountain gaps of Newfound watershed going from buncombe co. into Madison.  I have had my share of sliding off the road into ditches, peoples mailboxes, a couple trees etc.  Luckily I never went into any of the deep ravines, but I had on more than one occassion had the sense in my head to turn around and head back to asheville because conditions on the road were impassable and I was scared i was going to go into the ravines.  I have driven in a handful of blizzards out there in zero visibility in several inches to feet of snow and even had to walk home in one when even my truck couldnt push any further in snow that was deeper than my knees that hadnt hard packed yet.  driving in fresh powder snow is the worst! I can drive on hard packed snow all day.  No problem.  but man i hate that powdery shit! its pretty to look at when your sitting at home looking out the window, sipping tea and staying warm by the woodstove.  but it sure as hell aint fun when you are driving in it late at nite and cant tell where you are going bc everything looks the same bc its so fresh and there are no tire tracks.  Im pissed this year bc my goal with this being Willows first winter and with the farmers almanac which predicted a bad one was to save up enough money to take off work from Christmas until March.  I had just reached my goal of having enough money for that when I found myself unemployed in September.....I had to use just about all of my money from savings to hold me over until i found work again.  Now I have to work through winter.  Im not happy about this.  Im sure that there must be some sort of silver lining to this story, but I have yet to find it and will surely be cursing to the bowels of hell my former employer when I am stuck on I26 for hours on end in every winter storm that rolls through these mountains this winter.  So in complete uncertainty and having no cushion anymore to hold me over, I begin my push through what is going to possibly be one of the worst winters NC has seen in many years, and my first winter as a single mama.  Lifes challenges are not always what you wanted but I try to remain positive and have faith in myself that I can do anything and the universe knows what she is doing for me~