I?m switching gears, as it were, and devote this column to an accident I suffered right after New Year?s Day. Although most of us have been involved in accidents, if only minor ones, we are reluctant to use the word “accident.”The collision lasted mere seconds. I was driving home after doing some errands in town. I live up north. The night had fallen and the weather was rapidly deteriorating. The snow started falling heavily and affecting the visibility, but not to the point of not being able to see.Steady As She GoesMinding my own business, I was secure in the knowledge that my trusted F-150 7700 would take me home. Before leaving town, I took the time to clean my front and rear lights and engaged the front-wheel differential.The 4X4 was holding steady. All was going well. I was climbing uphill on a straight stretch of road inside a small town where the speed limit was 30mph. Doing just under that because of the road conditions, I noticed, without paying too much attention, a car, pulling a snowmobile on a trailer, coming downhill. He had his signal on and was waiting for me to pass in order to cut across my lane to reach a place of business on my side of the road.As our paths were about to cross, my truck was hit head on by a van that was following the car. Anyone who has been in or near a car accident knows the distinctive sound the crash makes when two vehicles collide.I never even had time to react.Instinctively, I knew my truck would not be salvageable ...