Reveries

Crawling Through The Snow

The day after Christmas I hopped on a Meagbus at Union Station, Washington D.C. enroute to Pittsburgh. The weather office predicted heavy snow in Pittsburgh all through 26th to the wee hours of 27 December. As the car rolled into the Megabus station, icy rain poured down on the US capital. I steeled my nerves for what lay ahead in Pittsburgh. The bus entered the highway. Freezing rain changed into a steady snow shower. Flakes turned into glistening shards of water as they lashed against the bus window. Tall trees lined white hillocks on the left. Their bare branches stood stiffly against a grey sky. On the right, dark green pine trees peeked through a dusting of snow. 

Nearly three hours later the bus reached Frederick in Maryland, about 50 miles from Washington. This was the first rest stop. But as the driver pulled into a white parking lot, only transit passengers were let out. The rest were asked to stay on the bus. Close to Breezewood in Pennsylvania, along interstate highway 70, a blizzard broke out. Hissing winds merged with crunching wheels. Snow flakes came down faster than the wipers could flick them away. The bus started inching along. Beyond the windshield lay a white wall with three brown lines in the middle. Only after it started moving did I realize that it was a huge supply truck. 

“It’s comin’ down!” said the man in front, speaking into his cellphone. “This is craezy maen” he remarked in between nervous laughs. The woman in the next seat kept looking up from her book and glancing out. But a huge athlete across the aisle kept his eyes glued to his laptop. His outstretched legs were fitted with bright red sneakers which looked like the over-sized boots of a circus clown. A jutting chin made his yellowish-white face longer. Headphones pasted to his ears,   he glared at scenes from The Godfather. 

A few miles away from the Pennsylvania turnpike our bus came to a complete halt. Phones kept ringing as passengers updated family and friends about the condition. The driver's voice boomed over the microphone. An accident up ahead had halted all traffic.  For forty-five long minutes we sat on interstate highway 70. It was already past 4 p.m., the scheduled arrival time. Gradually we started crawling down the road. At 6.45 p.m. we stopped again. Fifteen minutes later, a new voice sounded over the microphone: "Thank you for your patience, ladies and gentlemen. We stopped to change drivers. Depending on the roads, we should be in Pittsburgh within twenty minutes"

Those twenty minutes stretched to one and a half hours. At 8.15 p.m. the driver cheerfully announced our arrival into the city. On a parting note, he requested a round of applause for Mary, our previous driver. As the vehicle pulled into the city, we all cheered for the brave soul who had borne us through the blizzard. By now the six-hour journey had stretched to ten hours and fifteen minutes. But Megabus had kept its promise. Inching through a blizzard, it had carried us to Pittsburgh in safety.