16 Plowing Through

CHAPTER SIXTEEN Plowing Through Freezing Point (noun). This is the temperature where a liquid becomes a solid. For water, the freezing point is 0°C or 32°F. But for gasoline it has to be a lot colder. At least -40°C. That's why it's possible to drive around in cold climates and not have the fuel tank in your car turn into an ice cube. Although an ice cube derby sounds like a lot of fun! THURSDAY NIGHT WAS the longest night ever. I barely got any sleep because I kept jolting awake thinking it was time for the field trip. At 2:00 a.m. it was definitely not time. Or at 3:00 a.m. when I was woken up by snowplows roaring in the distance. But at 4:30 a.m. it was time. Still early, but more "morning" than "middle of the night" at least. I jumped out of bed and looked out the window. It was dark outside, but I could still

see. That's because there was snow on the ground. A lot of it. But I could tell by looking at the streetlight that it had stopped coming down. Well, except for one or two stray snowflakes. That was a good sign. After getting dressed, I put on all my snow gear—snow pants, winter coat, scarf, hat, boots, two layers of gloves, and my face mask for really cold weather. Turning on the lights, I could see that my parents had left their cars in our driveway. Mom had the SUV, and Dad had his sedan. The SUV wouldn't have a problem backing out. But today, Dad was taking the SUV to Detroit and Mom was driving the sedan to school. There was no way she could back out without getting stuck. The snow was too deep. Unless we shoveled the entire driveway. And not only the driveway. The street. The snowplow would get to our part of the neighborhood eventually, but who knew when that would happen? We couldn't wait. Even if Mom could get out of our driveway, it would be hard for her to drive to Maple Avenue, which would be all nice and plowed. Normally, we could get a ride with Elijah's mom. Only we couldn't this morning. Their car was in the

shop. And they were planning on getting a ride with us. So I got to work. After I had cleared the walkway leading up to the house, Mom and Dad trundled outside with Liam. "Great job shoveling the path," said Dad. "That's my girl." "Thanks, Dad." Then I asked Mom the question I didn't want to ask. "Do you think school is canceled?" She bit her bottom lip. "Well, actually, funny you should ask." "Good funny?" "Funny in that I just got a message. And school is on." "Yeah!" I shouted. Liam did too. "That means I'll be getting my octo—" "Shhh," I said. "That part's a surprise." I looked at our long driveway and tried not to panic. How were we going to get rid of all this snow? While I helped my mom start to shovel the driveway, Liam raced away and came back a few minutes later with a saltshaker. "Thanks, Liam," I said. "But remember how Dad said that we need to wait until the plow goes through before spreading the salt?"

"Besides, I don't think you have enough," said Mom. "Oh, man," said Liam. "What are you going to do?" I glanced at the spot where our outdoor water spigot was buried in snow. And I suddenly came up with a plan. "Hey! Where are you going?" Liam called after me as I glided away on the ice. "You'll see," I said. First thing I did was grab a coiled-up garden hose from our shed. Then I carried it into the garage and plopped in front of the utility sink. Then I turned on the faucet until the water got nice and hot. When you have warm water, the molecules zip around super quick. I wanted to get the water molecules on our driveway moving as fast as possible so that the snow would melt into liquid water. I turned off the water for a minute while I attached the hose to the spigot and stretched the hose out the side door. Then I pushed down on the spray

nozzle and aimed the stream of water onto the driveway. Yes, those molecules must really have been zipping along, because the snow got lumpier and lumpier until it melted. My family watched in wonder. "That's so cool!" shouted Liam. "I wish I had thought of it years ago," said Mom. "And we're lucky it's not too cold out," added Dad. My hand hurt from squeezing so hard, but I was grinning. You could see most of the asphalt. And Dad was right about it not being that cold. Because if the ground was still frozen, then the hot water would soon become cold water and just freeze up. Luckily, the temperature was hovering just above freezing, so hopefully we would be okay. I crossed my fingers just in case. "I could always drop you guys off in the SUV," said Dad as he climbed into the driver's seat. Mom shook her head. "You need to leave now, honey, if you want to make it to Detroit in time. And we still have stuff to get ready for the field trip." Dad looked reluctant as he backed his way out the driveway. The SUV slowly made its way down our street onto the wider avenue. Once Dad was out of sight, we turned our attention back to the driveway. There were still a few

patches of thick ice, so I found a bag of leftover sand from Liam's old sandbox and spread that around. The sand would add traction. Plus, it also prevents ice from forming. That's because the movement of the grains of sand messes with the ability of water molecules to cling together and make ice. And we definitely did not need any more ice. After thirty minutes of carrying sand back and forth from the garage, we had finally created a path for Mom's car to get out of the long driveway. But there was just one problem. What about navigating the unplowed street? The sedan didn't have the traction of the SUV, and we were completely out of sand. Back inside the house, I got ready for school, and then out the window the most amazing thing happened—I could see a snowplow clearing the street. We would be able to get to school! Making sure to tuck my money into the safest pocket of my backpack, I did Tala's happy dance. We were going to the aquarium, and I was going to meet sea lions and rockhopper penguins. This was going to be the best field trip ever!