The beginning of a new year is a time for reflection, goal making and writing the wrong year on your checks for at least the first 30 days.
My husband, Terry, and I spent the last three days of 2010 and the first day of 2011 with two massive storms, more than a foot of snow and plenty of time watching the weather. We alternated our time between shoveling the driveway (the snow blower died on day one of the storm) and warming up with hot chocolate. Of course, the storm started with freezing rain, so it looked like we flooded the driveway for use as an ice rink. Terry said he felt ridiculous while shoveling because he ended up sliding all over the place.
Just when we thought we wouldn’t see people for days, the neighbors came out of the woodwork. Between storms four snow blowers threw white stuff into piles all over the neighborhood. Neighbor Steve from across the street came over and helped Terry clear the end of the driveway after the snowplows barricaded us in with heavy snow. We thanked another neighbor for braving the cold and wind and bringing us cookies.
“No – thank you,” she said. “I had to get out of the house – my husband was driving me crazy.”
You can see why I didn’t include her name.
Poor Maple learned to minimize his trips outdoors as each time he braved the blizzard, the wind gusted and almost blew his 27-pound furry frame over. He barked at the wind because he didn’t know what was going on and when he ran back to the house, he slid all over on that ice skating rink of a driveway.
As the blizzard settled in Friday evening, the lights flickered parts of the city lost power. We gathered our emergency supplies as we watched the beginning of a bad Katherine Heigl movie. The power didn’t get cut, but the movie did.
When we woke up Saturday morning, the weather was calm, eerily calm.
By noon, the neighborhood came alive with Carhartts and snow blowers, struggling to find more places to put the snow. Terry and I had a system for shoveling – he pushed the snow over to me and I found a place to throw it. After launching a few shots of snow over the tall piles in the back yard, my back told me it wasn’t happy, while my fingers and feet tingled from the cold.
About half way through our task we looked up and saw Neighbor Mike headed our way with his snow blower. He finished off our driveway and sidewalk – work that would have taken us hours. It put an extra bounce in our steps and we finished off the detail work in no time.
Mike trudged through the final pass of our sidewalk, his cheeks bright red from the cold and wind, and his black hat caked in snow. Over the hum of the snow blower, we asked if he would prefer cookies or brownies for his time.
He smiled and looked at the snowy ground, “Cookies please.”
As 2010 went out with a bang, 2011 entered a bit quieter. I think it’s a very sneaky way of 2011 letting us know that it will be a good year for all of us – but especially for Mike, he gets free cookies.
So glad I don’t live in Fargo anymore.
However, its beautiful and I think being away from all the work associated with the wonderful snow will increase my appreciation for it. I remember last year driving home on what should have been a 90 minute trip from Northern Minnesota on Christmas Eve only to have to go around the interstate on rural roads, driving 25 mph in my little white Geo Prizm.
It took us almost 5 hours to get home and I was spent!