My next-door neighbor, Jim, just went for more gas. The steam rises off my peppermint tea and, looking over the top of the monitor, I see that the snow has painted the sidewalks white again. There are few things I find more meditatively centering than blowing snow. To think that I was almost 50 before I discovered this noisy, yet calming activity.
Jim has a larger 2-stage rig, but I am perfectly content with my Honda Harmony. My HS520AS has the ability to move up to 12 inches of snow up to 26 feet and the capacity to move up to 55 tons per hour. This evening, Jim cleared the sidewalk on our side of the street, so once I finished our driveway and front walk, I crossed the street to blow some other neighbors' snow.
Sure it is white, fluffy and beautiful in a starkly cold way. But it has its drawbacks - when I arrived at the train station this evening the vestibule was full of people dumbly staring at the tracks where the trains were supposed to be. Not to be outdone, I joined them. I have a Dean Koontz book going on the mp3 player, so it was not hard to put a blank look on my place and wait with everyone else.
Although I have not posted for some time, it is not for lack of trying. Once I spotted the "nasty links" comments on my last post I knew I had to be more diligent about maintaining this blog. After deleting those comments, I checked my drafts - there are several, but none ready for publication. There is one with real potential that I have titled "Flirting with Fitness, Redux" where, having successfully resisted Sandy's charms I nevertheless caved in to Carla. I blame it all on the blog reunion at which my extra-largeness became too obvious next to my companions not to mention that our 30th reunion is only months away. There is another one where I point out that Westmont College is searching for its 8th President and encourage everyone to start a write-in campaign for SC. There is also one I call "Comfy Grey Boiled-Wool Slippers" which is not so much a satire of Shilohman's "Little Red Shoes" as it is a tribute to my favorite 2006 Christmas present.
At the root of my bloglessness is no doubt a chronic depression stemming inextricably from my desire not to be working for Canadians but instead to win the lotto and devote my days to blowing snow for charitable organizations and the underprivileged. We are no longer celebrating President's Day and we are also laying off really good people this month. Betsy got the ax. Tom and Patrick and I are hoping she will find work nearby so that we can continue our 10:00 coffee runs. If not we will contact HR and post for a replacement. As so often happens this time of year, the resignations have been plentiful. Cliff, Peggy and Jolene are all leaving and all will be missed. I am currently interviewing candidates for Jolene's position. Last time one of these jobs was open it took 9 months to fill the post, but I am hoping to pirate Colleen away from a competitor. She looks kind of like Jolene and the first names are similar enough that, I'm thinking, the clients may not even notice.
The peppermint tea is one of 20 or so home remedies I am employing to fight off what feels to be the beginnings of a cold. Rather than chase it down with psyllium this evening, I will pull down the Christmas present that Betsy gave me - a bottle of vodka infused with pomegranate, tangerine and cranberry. The label reads: "Winter Shine - chase the darkness away." Only for medicinal purposes, you understand. Then I'm off to bed because there will be lots more snow to blow come the morning.
