It's that time of year again! As much as I
would like to skip past it, it's inevitable. Winter comes every year, and I get
that same anxiety about driving every year. I know my limits, but it is the
other drivers that I worry about.

Now, if I didn't ever have to go anywhere in
particular, I may sing this familiar song by Dean Martin.

"The weather outside is frightful

But the fire is so delightful

And since we've no place to go

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow."

Unfortunately, this is not the case! In the
last few years, I have started to park it when I don't feel safe or
comfortable. When I began trucking over 13 years ago, I thought I had to be a
hero or prove that I could drive through blizzard conditions. All that got me
was a case of PTSD from going in the ditch after hitting a whiteout - lesson
learned - the hard way! To this day, I still get quite panicky when the roads
are covered with that nice fluffy powder that gets stirred up every time
someone passes me. I also feel bad if I need to pass someone who is going
particularly slow. A friend of mine once said, "Pass or be passed!"
And I think I'd rather not be passed, especially when someone in front of me
may stop or slow down even more. I would rather not lose sight of them and end
up running into them.

So much can happen when weather conditions
aren't favourable. I've been called a sissy or a fair-weather driver, but I
don't care. I knew a storm was coming in last week, so I decided to take four
days off of work rather than be stuck at a truck stop during a road closure.
It's my way of being proactive, and to be honest, it was quite fabulous being
home snug as a bug!

 The band, Alabama, said it best when they
sang,

"I'm in a hurry to get things done

I rush and rush until life's no fun

All I really gotta do
is live and die, but                                                                          

I'm in a hurry and don't know why"

Do you ever feel like your life is one big rat
race, and there isn't time to take a deep breath and relax for a few minutes? I
find I get into that pattern from time to time. First, I complain about how
much stuff I have to do and so little time, then I realize I do it to myself by
pushing to get in every mile or trip that I can or taking on extra projects
when I don't have spare time, to begin with. It's a vicious cycle that I put
myself in more times than not.

 I volunteered to be in the Portage Rotary Club
Festival of Lights Parade at the beginning of December. It was a last-minute
decision, but I thought it would be nice to show off my truck and all my pink
lights. I found some great pink Christmas stockings, tinsel and a wreath to
decorate the outside. The team at Portage Transport even took one of the office
Christmas trees with lights on it and mounted it to my deck plate. They also wrapped
some boxes as gifts and tied them to my fenders, and all said and done, it
looked pretty good. As much as I like to volunteer for such things, I lost a
couple of days of work to be home in time to get the truck ready and make it to
the parade. But the smiles on everyone's faces, the cheers and claps when I
tooted the horn, and the ooohs and ahhhs over the pink lights made it all
worthwhile. It was great having some of the team walk along with the truck and
brave the cold.

Everyone has a story, and we often need to take
a minute to hear it. That being said, we all know those truck drivers that sit
at the counter at a truck stop and tell you how they've driven more miles
backwards than you have forwards. All of this is in a volume ten times higher
than everyone else in the restaurant, just so the whole place can hear. Those
stories are some that I'm sure I could have lived without!!

If you take a minute to look and listen,
there's much to learn in this life and industry. Finding balance is key. You
must take a minute and immerse yourself in something other than what you see
through the windshield or what's passing you by on the left.