I didn’t realize it then, but that small jar of salt was more than a way off the ice; it was a reminder that not every solution has to be complicated or expensive. While I sat there replaying the moment my car finally lurched free, I also replayed how close I’d come to giving up and just waiting for someone else to fix it. Instead, a few grains of something utterly ordinary turned the whole situation around in seconds.

Now that jar rides with me every winter, tucked beside the blanket and cables. I mist my windshield before a storm, stash a little dish of salt inside when the air turns damp, and keep a sand-and-salt mix ready for the worst mornings. It’s a quiet kind of confidence, knowing that when the road turns unforgiving, I don’t have to.