snowy day
before it started raining
It snowed some more. And since I usually excoriate the school district I work for making poor choices around school cancellations, I feel I should acknowledge that today was very well done. Sure, the elementary school could have done without a 15-minute earlier closing to what was already scheduled as an early release day, but the commute both to and from—home at 1:00—were entirely doable. I do have to confess that I drove, not worried as much about the snow as about being showered with salty slush: that's never fun.
But no worries about not getting enough exercise, because as soon as I got home it started coming down for real (again: good timing, Lexington Public Schools!). I told Leah the driving was fine so she could go to the gym and she did, but after a pleasant hour and a half of hanging out with the boys I realized that if I didn't shovel the driveway it might be hard to get the car back in: there was close to a foot of snow covering it at that point. Not that the street was plowed either, but it's the principle of the thing; and also not wanting to be parked in snow up to the doors.
So I shoveled the walk and the driveway and Harvey came out to join me. Then I walked Rascal, and wore snowshoes for the first time in a couple years because they were necessary—for the sidewalk too, not just the woods. Then when I got home I started to shovel out a neighbor's driveway, but first had to help another neighbor get his car off the street. Our Subaru didn't have any trouble with the lack of plowing—the snow that wouldn't fit under the car just got pushed ahead of the bumper—but the same couldn't be said for a VW Passat. It took 10-15 minutes of shoveling and pushing to get it maybe 50 feet; good thing his is the first house on the street! Then I finished the first neighbor's driveway, then I cleared out the plow debris from said driveway after the plow finally came, then I cleared out the plow debris from in front of the mailboxes (six feet broad and from one to three feet deep!), then I cleared out the plow debris from our driveway and walk, then I searched for and found Harvey's shovel that he had abandoned to be completely covered with snow. Then I went inside and collapsed utterly.
Leah brought me hot chocolate, which was nice.
It's raining a little bit now, which is too bad, but the forecast says we're in for two to five more inches tonight. I think I'll stay home tomorrow to play in it.