Hello, snow?
Tuesday, January 11, 2011 at 12:02PM Where I grew up, snow was a serious thing. You didn't get an inch or two. You got a foot or two. Everybody had a snowblower or a half-dozen snow shovels and a bunch of kids to use them--whether they wanted to or not.
On snow days, the morning started with two sounds. First, the phone, early: the school calling to tell my Dad that there wouldn't be any classes. Then, as soon as it was light enough, the rumble of Dad's snowblower. I'd look out the window and see arcs of snow coming from most every driveway on the street.
I shoveled, still, and plenty; the plow couldn't quite get our sidewalk, and sometimes the snow was too heavy or deep for even the snowblower.
I must have complained. Isn't that a shoveling kid's job? But now I'm eager to lift a shovel. Here in DC, we only own one shovel, and a half-used bag of ice melt. Snow means a few inches, but that's enough to send the area into a tizzy. It's not enough for me. I want big snow.
I want to be out there shoveling into snowbanks that my kid can burrow into. I love the silence that snow brings--especially here, where traffic is a never-ending background noise. And I love the satisfaction of carving straight, clean lines of snow out of my driveway. You know when you've done a good job shoveling. There's no ambiguity there. Either you scraped down to the driveway or you didn't.
So today I've got my fingers crossed. There's another big storm headed for the northeast. The forecasters say it'll only bring 1-4 inches to DC. But hey. They've been wrong before.
And when they do, I'll be the crazy one out there with a shovel and a big grin.
Reader Comments (1)
I love the snow except the shoveling part not because I am lazy but the since it's cold. it gives me headache.