Snow

Under normal circumstances, I'd be driving north this morning for my Christmas celebration. This year, I'm staying home because of snowy road conditions. I'm not a snow driver. I'm fine with not being a snow driver. The Portland, Oregon area sees snow so rarely it hardly seems worth the effort and money to buy snow tires or learn how to put chains on, or buy a gas guzzling four wheel drive car. If we do have snow it lasts about a day or two and then it goes away and we move on. In that case, it seems almost a sin not to take advantage of the forced 'slow down' and enjoy a snow day or two. My current job allows me to work from home, for which I'm very grateful.
The longer I'm away from snow driving - the less comfortable I am with the idea. I've had to drive in snow and ice in the past and been okay with it. Mostly, though, I was already at work and had to get home, or in one case I had a job that required a lot of driving and that year it was icy for a couple weeks. I don't actively choose to drive in snow or ice - I don't travel and I don't ski and I wouldn't live in a house up a steep hill. Strangely, even though it rarely snows, snow and ice play a part in the decisions I make about where I live. I don't want to live in a place where I have to think about buying snow tires, chains, or have 4 wheel drive. I don't want a job that requires my daily presence and is suseptible to bad weather driving conditions.
Many years ago I lived about 3 miles from work. It started snowing and I stayed at the office until I was let go. By the time we left there was a big snowstorm outside. There was a small hill I normally went down to get home and I decided I was too scared to drive down that hill so I went around it. Making that decision cost me about 5 hours. The office let us go at 3 pm and I didn't get home until 8 pm.
Another year and another job, I made a point to move close to my office. Wouldn't you know - the whole time I worked there we didn't have any snow events.