About to begin shoveling the driveway.
“HOW MUCH SNOW did we get?” I asked my husband upon arising Friday morning. I had no desire to bundle up and head outdoors to shovel the sidewalk and driveway. Again.
He guessed about five inches.
“I don’t feel like shoveling.”
“You don’t have to. I’ll blow it out when I get home.”
And so I felt a tinge of guilt, making the mail carrier and the few pedestrians in my neighborhood plow through the snow. But at least school wasn’t in session and kids wouldn’t be trudging through the snow, too, packing it down.
The first scoop of snow.
But then, around 2 p.m., the next door neighbor barreled down the sidewalk with his snowblower blazing a trail past our house and then back a second time to clear an even wider path. That Ken did this simply out of the goodness of his heart pleases me.
Up the street, a kindly soul opened the driveway and sidewalks of another neighbor whose property my husband typically clears of snow.
Moving right along…
Across the street, the neighbor boy attempted to clear the driveway, a seemingly insurmountable job for the little guy. He was giving it his all, for awhile, clearing only a small section before abandoning the task.
Perhaps someday he’ll blaze a trail through the snow with a snowblower.
Or maybe he’ll just give up and move to Florida.
Copyright 2013 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
I have been in mesa az most of the winter. Do not miss the snow. We had some this week but not where I am at.
Ah, yes, I heard about that snow in Arizona, of all places.
The snow does not remove itself, does it?? We have a driveway plower but not a sidewalk shoveler and being the corner lot we have a lot of sidewalk to shovel. Guess what awaits me when we get home??
Well, I suppose if you wait until spring, the snow will remove itself.
I grew up in Lamberton and have been following the renovation of the bakery, but have not heard anything lately. Do you have any updates?
No, but perhaps it’s time I check in on Seven Sisters.
Sadly I had to be to work at 7am the morning of the big snow, Rick got to have all the fun clearing the snow. He does it by hand (our driveway is manageable). He had it done before I left the house….such a go-getter đ
Your enthusiasm for winter continues to amaze me.
I was born in Florida. Moved when I was tiny…visited one time since…never need to go back!
And what, pray tell, is the reason for your reluctance to ever return to Florida?
Well, I should clarify that all I’ve seen of it is Miami…does that explain enough? đ I actually would love to see the Everglades. The house my family lived in when I was born was destroyed in Hurricaine Andrew, I think it was…
Gotta love snowthrowers. My husband prefers to shovel, but with our last big snow, even he broke out the power tool. We cleared our walk about four times that day as we are a walking route to the university, which didn’t cancel classes until afternoon. Our neighbor got a snowthrower this year, so I often see him blowing our walk. We do his too if we get out there first.
Neighbors helping neighbors is good to hear. As I write, my husband is walking across the street shovel our neighbor’s driveway. We, too, are on along a sidewalk/street with high pedestrian traffic, meaning it’s important to keep the walks clear.