Several years ago I was working as a mechanical engineering contractor in Erie (Pennsylvania), and every weekend I had to drive home to Toronto (Canada) to visit my family. I used to leave work on Friday (late afternoon) and would be back at work on Monday morning.

During winter, one Friday night, while driving to Toronto I got stuck in a sudden blizzard between Erie and Buffalo (New York). Due to extreme wind conditions along with the blowing snow, it became almost impossible to see the road ahead even though the car headlights were on. Moreover, as the vehicles drove, they splashed grime in all directions, especially on the cars following them. There were several collisions involving cars and some of the vehicles (cars and trucks) were stopped and abandoned by their drivers on the highway and in side ditches. It was such a horrifying experience and I still consider myself lucky to have survived that night and made home safely. The Erie-Buffalo distance (on I-90), which I normally used to cover in less than 90 minutes, took me more than 5 hours that night.

I reached Toronto around midnight and immediately rushed to my apartment leaving the car in a semi-lit garage. Next day when I went back to the car to go some place, I found a handwritten note on my windshield saying back from hell. It seems someone had described the car quite accurately. It was completely covered (from front to rear and top to bottom) in mud, dirt and grime. Even the windshield was barely visible.

Needless to say, I immediately took the car to nearest carwash.

- Subhash C. Sharma