[Edit: I had a facebook memory come up that had this exact same title and very much the same content – from 12 years ago. I appear to be stuck in a rut and I’m not nearly as clever as I’d like to think I am.]
I had my window shades closed yesterday while I was working and when I was done for the day I saw that we’d had a lot of snow. Like, a lot.
The day had ended on a frantic note at work – I was literally doing the jobs of three people who were out of the office – and I was still keyed up. I didn’t have anywhere to go, but figured I should try to get caught up on the shoveling while I could – for when I did need to go somewhere.
I put on a scarf, a hat, a heavy coat, my heavy gloves and my boots – not in that order – and went to the garage for my trusty shovel.
I closed the garage door behind me and set to work.
And, it wasn’t bad. I don’t know of anyone that enjoys shoveling snow, but I usually don’t mind it. The snow wasn’t too heavy, it wasn’t too cold, and the driveway really isn’t that big.
I had a plan of sorts and worked my way down the drive, my mind pleasantly empty. That’s the best part of a repetitive task like shoveling the drive, it frees up my head to think deep thoughts or none at all.
I started to lose the light as I finished up and concluded by spreading salt on the front steps – and the side steps of my 80 year old neighbor. Another neighbor had cleared the driveway, but his blower couldn’t reach that area.
I put away my shovel and got some rest.
Today, I got an earlier start since it had snowed again last night. It went quicker this time – there was less snow – and my head instead filled with ideas for haikus. I had four of them in my head and no way to write them down, but managed to distill them into key words I could use to create them again later.
I had enough energy to brush off the cars, clear a longer path for my neighbor, and clear off the back patio at our house for the dogs.
My back is a little sore and I’m a little tired. And I’ll sleep well tonight. But, I’ll be back at it again tomorrow if I need to.
Clearing the driveway – and my head.