Tuesday Tirade: The Perils of Spring

Spring.

If you live where you have snow during the winter, then you know that once it starts to melt, you are in for a treat if you are a pedestrian or a cyclist. I try to cycle on the road as much as possible, but if it is not safe, I’ll ride on the sidewalk.

You can see the puddle on the road, and the spray distribution on the sidewalk, so you look back to see if there are any cars and quickly make your way past the fan of filthy snow/slush/water. Sometimes you can go around, following the perimeter of the event horizon of the splash. Sometimes you can’t and are caught off guard.

When I drive this time of year, I try avoid the curb lane. The water pools up there, and that’s where most of the potholes are, lurking unseen below the chocolate brown liquid. If I have to drive through water, and there are people on the sidewalk, I’ll slow down or creep into the outer lane.

It sucks getting splashed.

The other day on a rare occasion of driving, I had a truck behind me—right behind me—and I could tell that he was impatient, trying to get around either in the oncoming lane (not very smart) or curb lane. He had been zipping in and out of lanes for a few blocks. There was a car beside me as well, and as it slowed down to go through a large lake, a gap appeared, and the jerk behind me took this opportunity to squeeze through and speed past me, revving the engine as he passed.

The water in his lane sprayed out in both directions, blinding me temporarily, so I slowed a bit until I got the wipers going. It was just in time to see his truck go through another puddle and his front right tire drop into a hidden pothole—with an audible ‘clank’.

Thankfully the car behind had pulled into my lane, and we passed the truck limping into the nearest parking lot.

Kharma? Maybe.

Did I chuckle a bit?

Maybe.

-Leon

Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.

My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/