The Shovel People

Yes, you've heard right: we're experiencing a record-breaking snowstorm here in the B/DC. For information about the weather, check out Billy's Maryland Weather page or the corresponding Maryland Weather blog.

It started snowing heavily yesterday in the early afternoon, and it hasn't stopped. Billy's measurements at 6 hour intervals have now surpassed 2 feet of snow. The snow itself measures at about 21" deep, but it's a heavy, thick snow that is compressing on itself.

The other day, Billy picked up a new shovel, which meant that I got to help out with the shoveling this time. I'd like to share with you a few things I've learned about shoveling:

1) A snow shovel should have a second handle sticking up from the pole near the shovel part (blade?). Then you could grab that to lift the shovel up instead of grabbing the pole.

2) Shoveling wouldn't be so bad if you only had to move the snow once-- but when you live in a townhome community, there's nowhere to put the snow except back into your own yard. You end up moving the same scoop of snow at least 3 or 4 times to get it there.

3) Once you've shoveled a path, it operates as a doggie run. The snow is about 3 Oscars high, so he spent quite a bit of time running back and forth along the paths we had shoveled.

4) This is one of the things I am really, really bad at (which reminds me that these things exist). I don't know where to stand. I don't know where to put the snow. I become fixated on how I could design a better snow shovel that would allow me to get better leverage (see #1). I turn around and see that Billy has cleared 5x as much snow as me.

5) The Nike jacket my mom bought me back in 2000, when I was off to Valpo, is great for shoveling. You would never know it is 10 years old, except that it has a special compartment to hold your portable CD player. This includes an elastic band setup designed to keep the CD from skipping. That winter, she also bought me the Nike Air Dri Goat shoes to keep my feet dry. They worked perfectly until water started leaking in the bottom after I had literally worn through them. I wish I had another pair right now (half for their functionality, half for the freshman year memories seeing that picture stirred up).

6) If Billy was hoping I would soon warm up to these kinds of winter storms, allowing me to help with the shoveling was a bad idea. Not just because it's hard-- mostly because I hate feeling utterly helpless while trying to be helpful.

Instead, Oscar and I are planning to warm up to the couch, our new Oregon blanket (thanks, Dad!) and our Glee DVDs (thanks, Mom!).

It's still snowing. We're not done shoveling. I'll probably have another snow post if only to plug another book I like, the title of which includes the word "snow." Stay tuned. But for now, I'll leave you with "The Shovel People," a poem from Oregon resident Lawson Fusao Inada's collection, Legends from Camp. (You might remember me mentioning this collection here or here.) I love this poem even though I don't normally like poems. And I love the feeling it gives me about shovels even though I no longer like shovels.

I'll tell you, Mr. Inada: after the time I've spent shoveling, I too will now have a greater appreciation for "everything around me that doesn't need shoveling"!!

(This poem also reminds me that when we were kids, Krista's dad (pictured here, holding Clara), who is an otherwise kind and calm man, killed a possum with a shovel. Or maybe it was a raccoon. Either way, it learned its lesson!)