It is cold here and I mean really cold. The wind is blowing at 37 km per hour, which almost 23 miles per hour and this makes it feel much colder. It was a good day to stay inside where it was cozy and warm and that's exactly what I did.
It is -12 Celcius, which is 10.4 Fahrenheit, but with the windchill factor it feels like -22, which is 7.6 Fahrenheit. It's been colder, I know, but just coming back from 70 degree Fahrenheit weather last week when we were in Florida makes it feel like 40 below.
On tonight's news forecast out of Toronto, they reported that there had been a 100 car plus pile up on the 400 highway. This is north of Toronto and they interviewed some of the people who were involved. They said they were driving south when suddenly out of nowhere, there was a whiteout. A whiteout, for those who don't know, is when the wind blows snow and causes the visibility to drop to zero. I've experienced my share of whiteouts and they're not pretty. The road was also icy, so other vehicles skidded out of control.
Many cars stopped on the road, which is something you don't do on the 400. That would be akin to stopping in the middle of Interstate 75. Someone's going to hit you in the rear end and that is exactly what happened. Then there was a chain reaction and soon there was over 100 cars involved.
There was a hero in all of this. A long distance trucker who was on his way to Wisconsin saw that he was going to hit several cars that had crashed into one another, so he, being a wise and brave soul, turned his rig off the road and drove into some bushes. If he had hit those cars, someone would have been killed. Instead, he put his life on the line and drove off the road. Luckily, he nor his truck were hurt. Someone was watching over him today.
So, here's to the long distance truckers who pride themselves on driving their big rigs safely and doing all they can to spare lives when they're in a dangerous situation. I pray that angels watch over this man as he and his big rig makes their way toward their destination of Wisconsin.
Brrr! I hope it warms up soon. We sure do depend on the truckers to bring us the goods we need. There are a lot of good ones out there who also give up family time so that we can eat, etc.
ReplyDeleteStay warm!
Thanks for highlighting this trucker. They seem to get a bad rap sometimes but there's lots of good ones out there.
ReplyDeleteIt's 10 degrees here too, but I don't know what the wind chill is. I just know it's cold!
Marcel,
ReplyDeleteYou are so right. Without the truckers we wouldn't have much of anything and it certainly is a lonely life.
Thanks for stopping by. I always enjoy your visits.
Blessings,
Mary
My husband works in a trucking ware house.We depend on those guys a lot!! Yes they give up a lot of family time to be on the road and it's hard! So thanks for the story and I will say an extra prayer for all the truckers out there. God Bless.
ReplyDeleteMari,
ReplyDeleteYour weather is about the same as ours, I think. If you have the wind, then you are probably as cold as we are.
Yes, there are good and bad truckers, as there are in all professions. While we were coming home from our trip we met a wonderful trucker who drove for Fed Ex. He put us back on track after we missed a turn. He was a great guy and the grandsons were impressed with how friendly he was.
Blessings,
Mary
Deb,
ReplyDeleteMy brother is a trucker and we met a wonderful man while on vacation, as I was just telling Mari. Thank you for praying for all the truckers. They drive through all kinds of weather and live a lonely life away from family and friends to deliver the things we need.
Thanks for stopping by.
Blessings,
Mary
It's cold here too, Mary, but not quite as cold as where you are. It's 23F right now, headed down into the teens tonight. Chilly for Arkansas. ;o)
ReplyDeleteQuick thinking and reflexes on the part of that trucker. It could have turned out much differently.
Stay warm and have a great new week, Mary. ;o)
Love and hugs,
Diane
Sure sound like some angles was watching over some people around Toronto.
ReplyDeleteIt been cold here also.
Diane,
ReplyDeleteYes, 23 degrees is chilly for Arkansas. The worst part of it is the wind here. If it would die down, it wouldn't be so bad.
Take care and thanks for stopping by.
Blessings,
Mary
Peppylady,
ReplyDeleteYes, the angels were working overtime today.
Blessings,
Mary
Gods blessings on all the truckers of the world.
ReplyDeleteWow -- You've covered so much ground in your last 5 posts. Holding everything in mind is taxing my brain this morning. The Meme looks like fun and I've marked it for another time. If I do it down the line, I'll definitely let you know ... but it won't be for a while yet.
ReplyDeleteBrrr ... your weather is way too cold for me and that pile-up scary indeed. Angels must have hovered and helped the truckers out.
I've been to Sea World in San Diego, but not in Florida ... so I really enjoyed your post about that.
I've been reading a blogger who has a son with Autism. I'll try to remember to send you the link in the next few days. A fellow blogger friend of hers has created some amazing posters and displayed them in her sidebar. I suspect you'd like them.
Hope you've gotten a good response for your give-away. Please forgive me if I've overlooked anything. I'm doing my best while distracted by the Australian Open. My friends are complaining that I've not been returning phone calls. Sigh! At least this only happens 4 times a year for 2 weeks each time. I'm more addicted to tennis than to blogging it seems. LOL
Hugs and blessings,
Good Morning Mary,
ReplyDeleteWOW, that is cold. It was 14 degrees with a windchill of 6 degrees here early yesterday morning. Now that is cold for here in the South. Oh my goodness, "THANK GOD" no one was hurt or killed in that pile up. That is alot of cars that was piled up. "THANK YOU" for honoring this nice trucker. That means alot to me since my DH is a truck driver. Alot of people down truck drivers, and I for one used to years ago, but since I have been on the road with DH, I know what it's like now and what they have to go thru. I have full respect for them now. I called me DH about an hour ago and he told me he couldn't talk because he was fighting with Snow. He is either in Wyoming or Utah. They had to deliver in Salt Lake City this morning. I didn't even get a chance to ask him where he was at. He said he would call me when he could. Take care my friend and have a great day. May God Bless You and Yours.
Love & Hugs,
Karen H.
Thanks be to God for 18-wheelers. I would say 99.9 of them are good and need to be appreciated because it sure would be a sparse world without them hauling stuff to and fro.
ReplyDeleteI would never attempt anything that high off the road with that many gears and with a huge trailer behind it. Whew, scare me to think about it.
So let us all lift our glass to a toast to ALL TRUCKERS AND GUIDE THEM SAFELY ON THEIR WAY.
Peace
Thank you for this tribute.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was growing up, we lived in town until I was in the fourth grade, then we moved to the "sticks". We didn't have a farm but worked on the ones nearby.
Mama Bear
Wow! That was a brave soul indeed. I too have driven in white-outs and sometimes I just try to pull off the road as much as I can until I can see something. You get so confused in white-outs just like super heavy fog. God Bless this man!
ReplyDeleteWow!! That is just awesome!
ReplyDeleteGreat Post!!
Wow...it's certainly cold in your neck of the woods. I know that driving in such terrible weather can be a potentially dangerous activity and I want to commend that courageous trucker for risking his life in an attempt to save others...a true hero.
ReplyDeleteHere. here!!!! It's nice to read GOOD stuff even if the situation was bad! ----I love him.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great post. It was super to read something filled with thought and love of mankind. You just don't see enough of this these days.
Thanks Ladies, for all your kind comments. It is nice to post about something positive for a change. We hear so many bad things on the news. It's nice to hear about something positive for a change.
ReplyDeleteBlessings to all,
Mary
Truck Drivers are some of the best people I know!!
ReplyDeleteWhen Mom and I would travel a ways to my doctor when I was in high school I would love it when a trucker would take us under his wing.
ReplyDeleteThey can be very sweet.
Ancient One,
ReplyDeleteYes, truckers are very generous with their time when someone is in need.
Hope all is well with you.
Blessings,
Mary
Sharon,
ReplyDeleteDad was a trucker and my brother is as well. If I'm in a bad storm, I'll follow a trucker at a safe distance, of course.
Thanks for stopping by.
Blessings,
Mary
Mary,
ReplyDeleteThank you for writing about that brave trucker. It takes a good heart to respond assess and respond to a sudden hazardous situation putting the safety of others before himself. This is an uplifting story!
Hugs,
Tina