Love my van

I drive a van that is 10 years old, and I love it. Although this van is total crap in the winter time, I love it. My van has been parked since about last Decemberish since it is total crap in the winter... I think I said that already. Thing is when you live 1000 feet above town on the top of a blustery, snow driven hill there is just no point in driving anything other than an SUV or a 4x4 pickup truck. Ruffel has both an SUV (Mazda Tribute) and a Ford 4x4 pickup, fancy blue in colour. So for the winter we share the Mazda and if need be the truck, although I hate driving the truck, it always feels like it is all over the road. He used to have a different shade of blue Ford pickup truck (4x4 of course) it was a standard and was really high up off the ground, almost high enough that you felt like you should have a little step ladder to get into it (I had a hard enough time getting into it and you know how tall I am, so you can imagine watching Ruffel jump in, really, he had to jump). Anyway, one December I was driving his truck, can't remember the reason, and was heading up to the farm. I came across the first bit of gravel road at the bottom of the hill (the last bit of straightaway) and hit sheer ice. Next thing I knew the truck was hydroplaning and turning in mid air. It was just like in the movies when everything is going in slow motion and yet in reality it is happening at the speed of light. I remember thinking about the sign that I had seen in the tractor. Tractor signs are made for the illiterate I am sure, they are always graphic pictures, things like bodies laying beside a moving part of the tractor showing dismembered limbs, all this as a warning not to go near the moving parts. There was a picture in the tractor by the steering wheel showing the tractor moving towards a tip over and the guy driving (guess the farmer) hanging on for dear life to the steering wheel and moving with the tractor in the same direction. This was a clue to stay with the tractor and not try to jump out of the tipping tractor, I guess tractors have a habit of tipping. I remember this as a sign to hang on to the steering wheel of the truck and just go with the flow. So I did just that as the truck tipped over onto it's side, BANG, I am in the ditch with years of truck paraphernalia flying all around me. I was in such a state of shock I just sat on my side (sideways) in the truck hanging onto the steering wheel for dear life. I snapped out of it and quickly turned off the truck, I didn't think that it would be good for it to run while it was laying on it's side. In my careening slide sideways into the ditch I managed to take out the Neighbourhood Watch sign and some other roadside literature. There was a car not too far behind me who saw the whole thing. This lady is actually a neighbour of ours and offered to drive me up the hill to the farm. All the way up the hill I wondered what I would say to Ruffel about what happened to his truck. I mean it was an accident, but he did love his truck, probably more than me at that time (maybe even now). After the lady dropped me off at the farm Ruffel came out of the house and asked why I had been given a ride up and not driven his truck. I thought the best way to handle it would be to cry. So sobbing I told him that his truck was in the ditch, that I had hit ice and it was in the ditch at the bottom of the hill. He gave me a hug (I think) and said that we would go and get it with the tractor. Now, I was not too graphic with the details of the state of his truck, so you can imagine his surprise when we rounded the last corner and he saw his blue baby laying on its side in the ditch with the Neighbourhood Watch sign underneath it. He looked at me incredulously and said "you never said it was sideways in the ditch" I replied " I'm fine thanks". The funny thing was that Ruffel was more concerned that people (namely his friends or anyone driving by) would think that he had put his truck in the ditch on its side. He made a point of making sure that everyone knew that it was me. I was lucky that there was minimal damage to his truck, or I would never have heard the end of it. So, the point of my story is that I love my van, I too would be upset if it ended up sideways in the ditch, so I drive the Mazda in the winter, in this god forsaken place. Luckily the Mazda has managed to keep all four wheels on the road. There have been many times in the past when I have tried to drive my van in the winter only to end up burying it in the deep drifts in the lane way and having to walk up to the house through a blizzard, carrying nine bags of milk and potatoes, cursing the whole way. I love my van in the summer with the comfy seats, smooth ride and wonderful air conditioning. So to Ruffel, I am sorry that I had a mishap with your truck all those years ago (14 and it still seems like yesterday) it really was an accident... really. So why the chatter about a van and ancient history about a truck accident? Well, today I got my van back from the mechanic and it was wonderful to drive it... I love my van.
Driven to distraction,
Cat x