Victoria got their dump of snow last night. It wasn’t all that much, less than 6 inches, but it was way more dry than we normally get. Sox had to rearrange some of her plans because the Malahat was a mess. The plan was to drop Sprout off at Gramma’s on her way to Vancouver.

Instead Sprout spent the day with me, and Sox took the Swartz Bay ferry over, then drove across Vancouver to get to West Van.

I needed to get out to do some Christmas shopping but I was a little hesitant until I got a road report from Sox. Everything seemed to be fine, so I bundled Sprout up and we headed out in the truck. I am cautious when I drive in the snow. I’ve been involved in an accident before and it put a healthy respect for bad conditions into me.

Yet Victorians live up to the stereotypes of bad snow drivers. As I was cresting a hill close to my home there was a truck stopped in the middle of the road so the driver could talk to a friend. I had to inch past him through the snowplow dregs. Nice.

I saw lots of people driving faster than I think they should have been, and relying on ABS in snowy conditions generally isn’t good driving either. Many people were trying to stop like they do in wet roads, and that just doesn’t work.

I got to my destination just fine, but I saw more on the way home. On Hillside I saw a car almost take out someone shoveling their driveway. I saw the car trying to change lanes, but I think they might have turned the wheel too quickly. Their tires were not pointing the same direction as their travel. At the last moment the tires bit and they car narrowly missed hitting the man.

Not less than a 100 yards later a car went off the road and struck a telephone pole. This happend in front of me and the three other cars in front of me. I was the only one who stopped, and I had my son in the truck with me. The people in the car got out, and I could see the airbags had deployed. They looked a little shaken, but appeared alright. I asked them a few questions, and noticed the driver was holding his wrist so I tried to persuade him to get it checked out. I had no cellphone to offer, but they had one and were planning to call a tow truck. I don’t know why they went off the road, but that got me thinking. I bid them well and had to get back to the truck.

Then, to put things in perspective, as I was getting close to home I saw a man and his son standing at the side of the road, and a little white dog running down the middle of the road towards me. I slowed down then stopped when the dog got really close. I didn’t know where he was so I got out to check on him. He ran back toward the two people who crouched down to try and coax him in. The dog kept running past them and continued down the street.

I learned that the dog was not theirs and that it’s owners had been following the dog in their car for a long time. I guess the dog ducked around them and was now lost. The people I saw tried to help, and so did I, but the dog got away. Last time I saw it, it was heading down Old Esquimalt Road. I hope the dog found a nice warm place to sleep tonight, and that it gets reunited with its family soon.