The day you find yourself ditched in a sleet storm fifty (or just five) miles from civilisation, Steve, you will bless that bag of fleeces.

As of today, I am now driving a new-to-me VW Golf GTI with snow tires after two weeks with a tiny Chevrolet Spark with “all-season” (we say three-season) tires. It was snowing and blowing to beat the band, but this is Ontario where winter is a thing. So I drove the Chev (a hire car) to the VW dealer in Kitchener on Highway 7/8, nearly 50 km of really unnerving experience. The wind pushed the little econobox all over the road, and the feeble windscreen wipers barely kept up with the accumulation. Every passing truck covered me with slush, and the drifting snow camouflaged the road limits to a frightening degree. Oh, and the nasty skid at New Hamburg nearly gave me a heart attack.

Coming home in the new car, considerably heavier and much better equipped, it was just another nasty day in January.