It was a night full with muhasabah for me.
Looking at all the cars that were stuck in the middle of the road, there was no explanation how did my small car survived from Vienna to Fairfax, rear wheel drive and all, except for one - it was Allah's help.
Remember what's our strongest weapon? It could not be defeated by any other weapons - invisible but invincible.
It is the du'a.
Driving home from work normally took me 30-40 mins, 1 hour plus if the traffic was bad. Yet it took me 1 hour just to arrive to the first junction in front of my office last night. And I have already gotten out early at 4 pm.
I saw a lot of people cutting the line to go to the gas station but I thought they were just taking a shortcut from there. Never did I realize that one tank of gas, that normally could carry me for 1 week, would not be enough for this trip home.
I made it safely to Vienna town, which is 2 miles from my office, in 3 hours. Snow was coming down steadily and I had to go out of the car a few times to clean up the windows from the outside. The line was not moving at all and a lot of people were out. Radio dj was advising people not to go out too often because a skidding car might come right after you.
Half way through, i counted the number of cars stuck in the middle of the road, and the number was 7. And they were all 4 doors sedan. I'm feeling lucky. My car skidded a few times but it was not too bad. As long as i'm not stuck, I should be fine. And then, there was small hill that we should climb. About 30 cars were waiting for their turns to climb up, and I don't think this small car would make it.
I prayed to Allah to show me the way.
And then the help came right away. The truck that plows the road drove right in front of me towards the 66 Highway, which I assume would be cleared by now. So I just followed at the back. Then, an amazing thing happened. The truck made a right-turn at a small road that I always used as a shortcut to go home. I had never thought that they would clear that road as well!
So i took it.
And it was a smooth drive up to Oakton, which is around 2 more miles away from my home.
The traffic stopped again there, but at least i might have saved 2-3 hours or even more if my car could not make it up the previous hill in Vienna.
I arrived at the last junction to my home but it was a long road and i knew would take a while. Suddenly there was a blinking light in the dashboard and I thought, Allah..it must be the gas! I wasn't thinking about that before and now it's a major concern. I prayed hard. I also slowed down the heater, and put the gear on neutral. After a while, the light went off but line was still not moving. The risk of having to dump the car on the roadside was still there. I think that could be the reason why some cars were left at the roadside.
After around 2 hours of inch-by-inch drive I've made it to the final traffic light before reaching home. The light was not working, so I figured the whole area must be blacked out as well. I hoped my wife is doing ok at home and had a blanket and layers on.
There were a few cars stuck while climbing up the hill just in front of our apartment area. I saw a 4-wheel tried to sneak onto the opposite side of the road, climbing up the hill to overtake the cars and suddenly there was a car approaching from the front. It braked hard and the car spun. Luckily the car from the other direction managed to stop. That's what happened when you are not patience.
When I finally climbed up the hill (by the will of Allah, this small car with rear wheel drive made it up!), the road entering my apartment was all blocked up with 2 feet of snow and I can't drive in! I had another idea, which is to park at a hotel about 600-700 yards ahead. So I kept driving slowly but I could not drive into the hotels parking lot on the other side because there was a car still stuck there blocking the road. I had to cross a major junction and stopped by a gas station, bought a packet of Doritos (because i'm hungry and because i love Doritos) and then make a u-turn to go to the hotel. The parking lot looks better and drivable. It's full and i'm pretty sure those cars must be owned by people who live in this area as well, who could not drive into their own apartment area.
So I parked there and took a walk home, in my full work suit, work shoes, and a jacket. It was cold and I hoped I was wearing a jeans instead of the pants. The walk took about 20 mins, and eating Doritos made me forgot about the coldness.
I got back home, my wife was waiting. We ate cold soup, biscuits, chips with salsa, and ice cream to prevent it from melting because there was no electricity. I sent a message to everyone in the office, hoping that everyone made it home safely and slept through till morning. The electricity had just been partially restored around 5 in the morning, and fully restored around 1pm just now. I should go out to check on my car at the hotel and probably drive it back home. Hopefully they haven't towed it away.
Snow could be fun, but it could be harsh as well.
It's just another Allah's creation anyway.
-writtenwhilemobile-
