I am watching it snow tonight and it is apparently something the “weather people” (a mainstream tribe of voodoo practitioners with similar accuracy rates in terms of weather prediction…poor) say will be something I can do for many hours in a row, perhaps even into late tomorrow.  But for as good as they are, tomorrow may be sunny and 85.  We will see.

But I notice as I watch how my perspective has changed.  At 52 snow is still beautiful, but in a very different way than when I was, let’s say 12.  At 52 snow is peaceful and serene.  It covers all the imperfections of yards, roof lines and trees, and creates especially when things are still, the same sort of mystical world you imagine that Lucy discovers as she enters Narnia for the first time.  It is very beautiful.

Of course at 52 you also have the ability to wake yourself up and think how that super long driveway that you love seems a heck of a lot longer covered in snow.  And now that you you received that long expectant call from the school calling off, and you have rechecked the entire house many times for your able bodied 22 year old daughter and 20 year old son, you finally come to acceptance.  Yes, they no longer live here so they cannot plow the drive.  Then you frantically look to find the manual for the snowblower to answer your next question, and you find that yes, as you assumed, a 6 year old cannot drive a snowblower that is twice the size of him.  And even if there are child labor laws in Indiana kids when I grew up learned the old fashioned way……you worked for family for free.  And that’s why my perspective was different when I was 12.

You see at 12, snow meant money.  Since no one had snowblowers (I looked up that they were invented in the 1920’s) a shovel was a good gig.  AND, it was fun too.  I know the term “Lake Effect Snow” means something to many and when you grow up in that kind of area you get a lot of snow. Tonight’s snow seems devastating for everyone in this area and there is a lot of drama surrounding it, yet for me, tomorrow will find a very Narnia type picture that will surely produce a lot of nostalgic feelings for me as 7-8 inches on the ground was pretty normal for home.  The difference will be the sounds.  Snowblowers stifle the sweet sounds of winter, such as the sound of a sturdy shovel scraping under a hearty pile of snow as a drive gets cleared.  And I hear that sound and it means winter and gives me feelings I really only deeply understand.

But of course I am not 12 anymore, I am 52.  And the drive will not only not shovel itself (apologies to my HS English Teacher Thelma Martin…RIP for the double negative) but if we cannot get out there is a strange side-effect that takes place.  You see after you have your first child, snow physical properties of snow change as well as the dimensions of both time and space.  Snow will now cure, and harden, and trap you in your home.  With that, your house can also get smaller to where even the largest home can seem like a small room….especially when you hang with a six year old who wants to tell you every detail about Spongebob, Minecraft, or some other vital piece of national security information (he never talks about all those books he reads).

But the good thing is I have a plan and that plan is a SHOVEL, which tomorrow he will learn to use. He won’t make any cash as I don’t want to go to jail, but I don’t want to be in one either.  He DOES have a snowblower as the parents in my neighborhood would say, it’s in his hands.  And he can work now to have the privilege then or taking the mechanical one out to make some when he gets older.  But for now this will have to do.  It is going to be an adventure!
moola

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+