good snow meant a two-minute run followed by ten to twenty minutes waiting in a lift line. But around three o’clock, wind began to blow and flurries and temperatures fell—drastically. From one run to another, the queue had dissipated to twenty people milling around. Great, a one-minute lift line! I raced through a dozen or more runs; not waiting kept me from cooling too much. Tired and hungry, we talked about what great cheap food we’d eat when we got home. But the mercury had sunk to seventeen below, with some ridiculous wind chill factor. And my car, a ’72 Mercury Capri, had a broken heater. The trunk lock froze, so we crammed skis, poles, and boots in among the five of us. Of course, the wiper fluid was solid ice. As we piled into the car, thick frost formed on the inside of the windshield. No heat meant no defroster, so we opened all the windows. My copilot used a plastic cassette case as an ice scraper. Usually confident of my driving, especially in snow, I began to dread our return trip as we entered the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The heavily salted roads were both a blessing and a curse. The traction kept the Capri on the road. But only road spray from trucks would clear the glazed windshield. We all had become silent—but at least the stereo still worked. With a different type of adrenaline flowing, the thought of food was secondary. I only wanted to get my friends to their warm homes safely, so that we could dream of meeting girls another day. ■ —Robert Moore is a freelance computer geek with carpentry and soccer habits. “What You’re Writing” is the place for creative nonfiction from our readers. Each month we pick a topic. Use the topic as a springboard into your own life and send us a true story inspired by that month’s theme. Only previously unpublished, nonfiction submissions that include contact information can be considered. We reserve the right to edit heavily for space and clarity, but we will give you the opportunity to review the edits. You may submit under “name withheld” to keep your essay anonymous, but you do need to let us know how to contact you. If you’ve already changed the names of the people involved, please let us know. Only one submission per topic, please. Send your essay to Urbanite, P.O. Box 50158, Baltimore, MD 21211, or e-mail it to WhatYoureWriting@urbanitebaltimore.com. Submissions should be shorter than four hundred words. Because of the number of essays we receive, we cannot respond individually to each writer. Please do not send originals; submissions cannot be returned. Topic
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Hard Lesson Shelter All Grown Up
July 14, 2009 Sept 2009 Aug 10, 2009 Oct 2009 Sept 15, 2009 Nov 2009
Commercial
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