The cement crew outdid themselves. Hawthorne Road was repaved in time for winter and the intersection was reopened. We had a few inches of snow the evening before Thanksgiving. I was inspired to use the gentle Hawthorne incline instead of the steeper 26th or 24th or 21st. Big mistake. I joined a seven-car pile-up that evening between Second and First.

I remember judiciously pausing on the corner of Second and Hawthorne. A 2013 Van and a red sedan were forming a Christmas Angel in the middle of Hawthorne Road, using their vehicles. A young man in a white pickup with rear wheel drive gunned his car around the obstruction. Someone else had high hopes of ascending Hawthorne and gave up. The woman in front of me knew her snow tires were still in the garage. She pulled way over to the right and parked. I wish I had done the same. It would be 3.5 hrs. before the crew salted the road and she could safely leave.

My descent was carefully planned. I had all season radials, ABS Brakes and plenty of bravado. Those who had failed before me were simply unfamiliar with ice. I could steer out of a spin. Tap the brakes, jump the curb, head for the gutter, straighten the wheel and give it snoose.

As it turned out, the repaved Hawthorne Road was a like a huge shower curtain and various vehicles were like water droplets. The new gutters were bumpers on a huge pool table. I wedged into the van and two more sedans slid down in slow motion to lay against my car. A Prius slid in as a garnish. The drivers were simply not ready for that much glare ice, spread from curb to curb over the entire block.

Disassembling the scrambled, random pattern of cars took hours. No one was seriously injured. I listened to the firemen's version of Jenga. "If we remove Vehicle B, then what's to stop Vehicle C from sliding into A? If we remove Vehicle C we could use ropes to keep Vehicle D from slamming into B..." It's safe to say Hawthorne Road is a whole lot smoother. No more protruding corners, pot holes or gravel dips. No more low curbs that could have saved my battered car.