More Snow

February 25, 2007













The week after my house flooded we had a bad winter storm that left snow drifts that were sealed solid by a thick layer of ice. They were like miniature glaciers--impenetrable. This was followed by temperatures well below freezing for several days. Finally, over the past few days, all that snow began to melt. By yesterday most of it was gone, with the exception of some dirty mounds still piled up along the roadways, and an icy drift on my deck (resembling a frozen wave) that had sealed my sliding door shut for several days.

Cars remained filthy, coated with that familiar gray film, as the stuff melted. But the wet roads continued to kick up salt and dirt. Yesterday the roads finally started to dry out. It was sunny so I finally shelled out nine bucks at a Shell station for a "deluxe" car wash that even cleaned the wheels. My car hadn't been this clean all month.

Today's forecast called for sleet and rain. But, it turns out, the weatherman was wrong. I woke up to heavy snowfall late this morning after oversleeping. By 1:00pm the snow started sticking to the roads. I went outside in my ski coat to take photos a little while later and found myself trudging through the fluffy white stuff. By then it was at least 3" deep and still falling.

My neighbor Dan was outside. He's a super-nice guy with a wonderful family. He had shoveled his walks once before loaning me his snow shovel. By the time I finished one pass on my driveway and walks, it was covered in snow again. I couldn't keep up. I just kept on shoveling.

I had nothing better to do and needed a break from the indoors. I shoveled Dan's area again and my neighbor's area on the other side, too. She's going through a rough time right now so I wanted to do something to help. A couple days earlier she'd had her loser boyfriend arrested, and she'd just gone to court Friday to get a restraining order. Then on Saturday after a visit to my Lasik doctor, I went over and helped her change her locks. I really felt for her. I recall being in a similar situation many years ago in Charlotte, so I could sympathize. I'm glad to see that she finally got that redneck out of her life and out of our neighborhood. I was sick of him parking in front of my house anyway.

Then I did another pass on my walks and driveway. I wasn't ready to go inside, plus I was in need of some exercise, so I started in on the road in front of Dan's place and cleared out the snow around his truck. I figured the more I got off the road, the less snow the snow plow could pile on our driveways tomorrow morning.

I was on a mission. Two hours after I'd started, I'd cleaned off three cars, four driveways, the sidewalks, and the better part of the road in front of Dan's place and mine. That's a lot of caloried burned (but I wasn't thinking about my back, and I'm feeling it now!) I even did my neighbor Patty's driveway while her able-bodied 20-year-old son stayed indoors with several of his friends who showed up. (Doesn't anyone's kids do any chores any more??)

Three doors down, my neighbor Tom's young son J.J. came out with a broom but wasn't making much progress. He's probably about 8 years old. Very likable kid. We chatted the whole time we were out there together. I passed Dan's shovel on to him so he could work on his driveway, which his dad had offered him $5 to clean.

I was cleaning off Dan's wife's car nearby when J.J. asked me if I'd shoveled Dan's driveway. I replied, "Well Dan did the first pass, and I did the second." J.J. looked at me, "Did you owe him money?!" I laughed and told him, "No, I was just being neighborly." What a cute kid.

By then it was about 4:00PM and my gloves were soaked through, so I went inside to put some dry clothes on. A little while later, the first time I tried to get out of a chair, I realized that my lower back had all but given out on me. Drat.

I'm looking forward to spring. Meanwhile, here are some pictures from today's snow.