We finally received our first significant snowfall since Christmas day. It began snowing around 1:00 this afternoon, and hasn't quit yet (late at night). The boys spent a few quality hours frolicking in the white stuff, Bear with his little loader making trails in the front yard, and Wolf re-building a snow fort that had previously melted. I shoveled snow.
Most people put shoveling snow right up there with taking the garbage out; something that has to be done before it gets away from you. But for me, the nightly scooping and pitching over the driveway berms is a peaceful interlude from an otherwise hectic day. Right now it also provides me with an abbreviated workout, since Yukon is away and I cannot take my nightly run.
There is a strategy to shoveling the driveway, and I have it down to a coordinated grid of one way and then the other, being sure not to end up with too much snow on the flat blade for fear I will really screw up my back. You laugh, but it is amazing how much one shovelful of snow weighs. In fact, the Anchorage Daily News even published an article on snow shoveling today to make sure people do it right. I read somewhere that 30 minutes of brisk shoveling can burn 500 calories. That ought to cover the half-can of fluffy white frosting I ate for dessert tonight.
So the snow keeps falling, I keep shoveling, and my biceps keep growing. This is my journey into solitude right in my own driveway. I won't let Yukon shovel, he doesn't appreciate its mental health benefit.
The weather outside may be frightful, but my little regimen is quite delightful.
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