Winter officially starts on the winter solstice, which is always around December 21. However, we have had ice and snow for the past couple of weeks. The first couple of storms were only little snow events where the snow didn't last. Then, on Wednesday, Dec. 2, we had a larger storm where it snowed all day and the forecast was for one or two more days just like it. That was disturbing because I had to go to Ljubljana the next day, less than a 2-hour drive but over numerous small-mountain passes and bridges. The next morning, I nearly bailed on the trip when I looked at the forecast and Google maps showed numerous stoppages along the tollway between Maribor and Ljubljana. But, by the time we headed out most of the stoppages had been cleared. It was a little dicey getting out of the parking garage and up the hill to the main road but the road was merely wet, as you can see below.
It seems like the snow plows must be very localized, because there were places like in the photo above where the road had been plowed, and then places like in the photo below, where the cars were pushing slushy snow aside or packing it down into ice.
We had about five miles of that. However, once we got onto the tollway, it was nicely cleared and the roads were wet, but easy enough to drive on. We took it nice and easy and had no troubles whatsoever.
The drive to Ljubljana is always stunningly beautiful, but the snow on the trees made it a different kind of beautiful than we've seen before this trip. Last winter we didn't see any snow at all, but of course we didn't get here until February. So, while it snowed in the morning, and again that night, we had a lovely day. I saw my doctor and got pre-cancers frozen off my face. We met all the missionaries and delivered little packs of cookies to them, and got home again before the afternoon snow got really going.
On the way down, we saw a very-long backup of trucks and cars on the other side of the tollway, and I told Liz that I certainly hoped that was cleared before we came back. Vain hope! It appears that the problem was inside one of the tunnels through the taller mountains. Most are not very long, but one is about 2 miles inside the mountain, and it looked like that was the one with the problem.
The tollway is mostly just two lanes in each direction, but there are a few spots where a truck lane opens up on the right side. We were passing one of those on the way home, when we came to the back of the line of trucks. Of course, they were off to the side in the truck lane, so we pressed on, albeit slower than we had been going. When the road came back down to two lanes, I was surprised to see that the trucks were politely staying in the right lane while most of the cars continued in the left lane unchecked. But it couldn't last. Eventually we came to a halt, too. We estimate we passed five miles of trucks inching along in the right lane before we had to stop.
We inched along in our left lane for about a half hour and came to this reader-board. You can see that by this point there were a few trucks in the left lane, but it continued to move faster than the right lane. There were three pressurized-gas trucks in front of us, and we conjectured they are allowed leeway in this kind of situation to get gas to people who need it for heat. Who knows? Anyway, it wasn't long after this that we were forced to exit and follow a windy 2-lane road along the valley floor to the far end of the three tunnels in this stretch. Total distance of backed-up traffic was close to 10 miles. Then, the traffic moved smoothly along the 2-lane road and we were soon back on the tollway. The backup was simply from forcing traffic off a 4-lane divided highway with a speed limit of 130 kph onto a 2-lane back road with a 70 kph speed limit.
I have had a winter bronchitis infection in 4 of the last 5 years, and I have another one this year. It became noticeable about a month ago, but it always starts small. The mission doctor said to take expectorants and call him again if it got to where I could hear noises in my lungs. A few days ago it got to where I could hear it gurgling in my lungs when I laid down to sleep, so I called the mission doctor again. I explained the treatment I had used before and he prescribed an inhaler with powdered steroids to help the lungs heal. He also wanted to prescribe an antibiotic, but I asked him to hold off on that. Too many antibiotics have already disturbed my intestinal flora and fauna, and they always give me a month or more of disturbance. Who needs that? Yesterday it had me pretty low and I hardly moved out of my recliner, but today I am feeling much better. I expect to have a couple of weeks of that kind of back and forth before it gets better - and maybe longer.
With COVID all around us, exploding through the previously nearly unscathed country of Slovenia, I need to stay isolated. COVID on top of a stubborn Bronchitis is a serious combination with a poor prognosis. We have no clue when the new vaccine for COVID will become available here, even though they are already administering it in England and Wales, with several other countries close behind them. So, I can't afford exposure.
We are still in full lockdown in Slovenia. We think the government is keeping it locked down in hopes that the infection rate will decline in time to open stores for Christmas. We still hope so. Stores have Christmas wares on display, and in the Center (the Slovene word for the town square) they have set up lines of little booths in preparation for a Christmas Market Festival.
One interesting aspect of the Maribor winter is that the temperature seems to stay fairly stable night and day. Today has a hi of 39 degrees Fahrenheit and a low of 32 with humidity at 100%. Looking at the long range forecast, most days have a range of 10 degrees or less, but there is one day where it will be 45 and 28 because the sun will peek out for a while. It's been like this for several weeks.
Tomorrow is the big day for us, although we celebrated it with our children and grands before we left on our mission. It will be our fiftieth anniversary. Fifty years ago today, Liz and I got in her parents car along with Grandpa Stevens, to go to Manti where we took out our endowments. Then the next morning we drove back again and were married and sealed for time and eternity. It was a happy time for us, and I have never regretted it. Liz and I have had ups and downs like anybody, but our love for each other remains firm and strong. I am a very lucky man to have found her and won her hand.
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