Be Prepared

It doesn't freeze in Seattle ... except when it does. It doesn't snow in Seattle ... except when it does. And yesterday it did both. And the roads were messy but worse, the drivers were terrified. When you have little experience driving in snowy, slippery, weather on hilly, curvy terrain, it can lead to trouble. And I saw lots of it - cars sliding, people over-reving their engines and spinning their tires (which only increased the sliding) and this morning on the way to work a plethora of abandoned vehicles.

I must admit it was not the weather that worried me, but the unprepared drivers and road crews. Now, to be fair to both, in truth there are only a few days each year of of snow/ice in this part of the Northwest, and as we in the ecclesial business say, "You can't build a church for Easter Sunday" (though perhaps we should re-think that ... grist for a future blog) so stewardship dictates that highway and road maintenance folks not spend the huge amounts of money necessary to buy equipment and chemicals. It is simply more cost effective to let most businesses shut down for two or three days each year. And it is fun to have a couple of "snow days" as well.

But having lived and driven in the Chicago area and not completely cognizant of the above mentioned realities, we ventured out last night to have dinner with some folks. But before we did I threw some some sutff in the back end, just in case. Be prepared. And I was, even though I didn't need it. But a lot of other folks sure did.

I wonder how often in my life that little Boy Scout motto has saved my bacon? Be Prepared ... which in this instance means having the right gear available if you need it AND constantly looking ahead for what might cause some trouble. Just like you do when riding a motorcycle - so being prepared is all about thinking a few moves ahead, like in chess.

Driving in snow/ice Be prepared means keeping a safe following distance, using a low gear, and especially watching out for what kind of bone-headed maneuver that other inexperienced, unprepared person just might do. Be prepared means watching the behavior of other cars in certain spots and either following or avoiding those spots. Be prepared means relaxing your vision and taking in the whole view rather than focusing on any one place or thing. Be prepared means applying the lessons of motorcycle riding to auto driving, like understanding that the vehicle by nature wants to go straight, squeezing the brakes instead of stomping on them, not over-reacting, using momentum to get you up a hill, following a line, braking before you think you might need to brake ...

It has been almost forty years since I ended my direct association with the Boy Scouts of America, but the lessons learned still hold, for riding, for driving, for living. Who da' thought?

Be prepared.