Dog Trots and Tumble Weeds

Today I set out homeward from Loveland, Colorado for Iowa City. The wind felt good on a clear 48-degree day. But after turning northeast onto I-76, the wind became unfriendly. The sun that shone on the snow-covered peaks behind me faded into a haze that must have been dust. Then I noticed tumble weeds scooting over the highway. And more, and more. Some were as big as little Christmas trees. I tried dodging them after one crashed into the side of the car with a thud. But at high speed, dodge ’em is not possible and I resorted to braking and speeding to let them pass ahead or behind, with some success. In all I was hit violently 3 times on the side and once on the windshield. The trucks were dog-trotting down the highway, with their rear axles into the shoulder while the cabs held the lane. Everyone was buffeted mercilessly. After three hours of enduring the debris, the survivors had tumble-weed trophies stuck underneath or in front, or even on the roof midst leaning bicycles. Mine decorates the license plate.

I looked forward to heading east on I-80, but by then the north wind had brought a nasty cold front with freezing rain and sinking temperatures all across Nebraska. By Des Moines the salt trucks were of no avail, so slick was the glaze that formed on the highway. I gave it up after seeing several cars off the road, and watching two adjacent ones do 360’s in the high speed lanes, honking as they spun to warn nearby cars and trucks. So scoff not at Super 8 where I welcome shelter from the perils of the road. May tomorrow be a better day.