Risk vs. reward

Today was the day I was scheduled to get my first COVID vaccination.  Working for the State in front-line essential services means I got a crack at the first round of shots.  I was pumped.  Not that it would have changed anything for us -- you can still catch the virus and pass it on to someone else even after you've been vaccinated.  Which means I could still bring it home to my unvacced Hubby and kidlets, including the youngest kidlet with lung disease.  Until all of the family gets vacced, we're still gonna hermitize.

An 18th century garden hermit.  Me in a past life.

But it was a positive step toward normalcy, and I was looking forward to it.  Of course, Mother Nature had other plans.

Mother Nature's plan was to send us rain late last night, followed immediately by plummeting temps and a few inches of snow.  Add sustained winds of 25 mph with gusts up to 40, and you've got yourself a doozy of a driving hazard.  The schools were closed today because of the roads.  And our 511 website showed all of our nearby roads as completely covered with snow and ice, with 1/4-mile visibility.

I love MNDoT's 511, especially the plow cams.

Nevertheless, I made the attempt.  Hubby brushed off the minivan and started it up, then snowblew the driveway.  I got ready, gathered together a winter survival kit and an extra cell phone, and stepped out the door.  On a normal day the drive to Willmar would take about an hour-and-a-half.  I budgeted myself two-and-a-half.

I made it about five miles before turning around.  The roads were truly horrible.  In open areas the wind blew a fog of snow across the road, with nothing to see beyond it.  On the leeward side of groves the snow piled up in drifts.  But the worst was the layer of ice under the snow.  I never went above 25 mph and tested my breaks several times.  Each time I tapped the breaks the car began sliding, and the anti-lock breaks kicked in.  A particularly strong gust of wind would push me across the road a few feet.

So I stopped the car and decided that the risk of driving for three-to-five hours in these conditions was higher than waiting another month or two to get a vaccination.  That being said, I'm not sure I'll be able to get into another State employee clinic -- vaccine supplies just aren't meeting demand.  I may have to wait til summer like the rest of the population.  

Which is just fine.  Like I said, until the whole family is vacced, no one is vacced.  We can wait.