Friday, February 09, 2007

Another Snowy Day

If you were to get in a car and drive an hour north from my house, the going would get pretty tough. Lake effect snow has dumped 7-10 feet on those communities this week. For the most part, the lake effect bands have skipped over us here. Today was somewhat of an exception, with fluffy flakes the size of quarters falling from the sky for hours on end.

I tend to be sluggish in cold weather, and have difficulty motivating to go outside. Shoveling the driveway is a necessary chore with this much snow, though, so I ventured out this afternoon. Our driveway is wide enough to park two cars side by side, and long enough to fit two or three cars, depending on the size of the cars in question. There was a lot of snow.

Shoveling the driveway took me over an hour. It hard to tell in the photo, but the banks along my drieway are mid-thigh in height. Down by the curb, they reach my waist. Several involuntary tennis-player-like grunts escaped my lips as I heaved the plow cheese up over those banks. Luckily no one was around to witness my graceless emissions.

After I finished the driveway, I shoveled a path around the side of the house for the cat. Elijah loves going outside and seems to get seasonal affective disorder when the snow gets so deep he could drown in it. Now at least he can go from the back porch to the front porch if he wants to. I didn't shovel all the way down to the ground, because there is a slate path there overgrown with ivy, and I didn't want to damage the plants.

The last photo of the porch steps shows how much it snowed just in that hour I was out shoveling. I didn't start with the porch: the first spot I shoveled was a space in the driveway for SodaBoy to park his car upon his return. Then I shoveled the porch, and then the rest of the driveway. It might seem futile to shovel in a squall like that, as it is impossible to keep up, but I had to do it sometime. And I am such a dork that I enjoyed myself. Who enjoys shoveling?

5 comments:

Nicole said...

I gave up shoveling when we moved into a house with a driveway so long, it would likely fit about 15 cars, single file. Instead I bought an all wheel drive Forester and 4 snow tires and hoped for the best. For the first winter since we've lived here, we haven't had to park at the bottom and walk up our steep driveway. A sailor could never compete with my level of cussing whenever the car couldn't make it up the driveway. It's funny, because cars get stuck in our driveway so often, that we are on a first name basis with the tow truck guy. We have even had cars fall off the edge and slam into the trees off the side. Gives us some much needed excitement in the Winter time.

BerryBird said...

No wonder you hate shoveling, Nicole! You practically need your own plow for a driveway like that. We had a long driveway at one house out in the country growing up. We'd leave the cars up by the road sometimes. I remember bringing groceries in on sleds. Whee!

a/k/a Nadine said...

Hell no! No shoveling for me, thanks. Bring your butt over here and get some more exercise whenever you want. I think the shovel got buried beneath the snow though, so you should bring your own.

Aliki2006 said...

I like shoveling too but I NEVER get to do it here in the south...

I'm jealous of the snow--I really am!

Mary Stebbins Taitt said...

I USED to love shoveling, at least some of the time--actually look forward to it. Not any more, with the fibromyalgia, though. And not when there were several feet of snow and a four foot wall at the end of the driveway and I was late for work.