What do you think about when the snow falls?

On Tuesday afternoon, while processing all the predictions for the major midweek snow event affecting most of Illinois, my mind first raced back 11 years ago to the early 2011 Groundhog Day blizzard. Plenty memorable for anyone who lived here then, that storm sticks in my brain because we were expecting our third baby. Thankfully he didn’t arrive until Super Bowl Sunday, and we got him home from the hospital before the next round dropped.

That is, of course, a personal reflection. Like the Sunday morning lake effect piles I intended to deal with in the afternoon until someone (who was not me) broke the only carafe for our coffee maker, immediately changing my plans for the day. Or the time, while traveling back from Cedar Rapids for senior year spring break, when my 1988 Chevrolet Caprice Classic found a patch of black ice before testing the strength of a U.S. 30 guardrail in the westbound lane.

But in advance of this storm, with no pregnant wife, a backup carafe and a 2019 Chevrolet Traverse with four-wheel drive if we absolutely must leave the house, I find myself thinking more about the people who signed up to deal with the snow so the rest of us can carry on as best as possible.

“We have approximately 1,800 plows that we put into service and we cover nearly 16,000 miles of road statewide, and that’s the equivalent of driving from New York to Los Angeles and back almost six times,” said Paul Wappel in November, according to WCIA-TV.

Wappel, Illinois Department of Transportation public information officer, was detailing the Hourly Snowbird program that pays 1,000 workers $20.55 an hour for on-call plowing. IDOT also hires 1,500 temporary full-time salaried Monthly Snowbirds, whose efforts supplement the year-round highway maintenance team.

State and local police play an important role as well, responding to stranded motorists and risking their lives to do so because some folks simply can’t process the importance of slowing down and shifting lanes to help reduce the likelihood of a crash with emergency responders.

It’s common to complain about the size of state government or bemoan the unfunded pension crisis, and while those aren’t unfounded concerns, it’s important to remember the contributions of the rank-and-file members of the state’s workforce who answer the call to carry out basic functions.

Rare is the bureaucracy without a little fat to trim, and I don’t pretend to know the first thing about running an efficient 16,000-mile plowing operation. But when bad weather strikes, I’m thankful for those whose hard work makes safe travel possible – and that they get fair compensation for their efforts.

• Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Media. Follow him on Twitter @sth749. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.