Snowfall

We had 2-3 inches fall over the weekend.  My Toolman was sick in bed with bronchitus so that left the clearing of the driveway up to me.  He offered to start the snowblower for me but I'm just a simple ole' gal who prefers the extra calorie burn of a shovel.  My Schnickelfritz asked if he could help--any excuse to get out in the white stuff.  He was pretty much over is own cough so I allowed it. 

We couldn't find the second ergonomic shovel (you know the kind with the crooked handle that allows you to push rather than lift the snow?)  Fritz got stuck with the collapsable emergency shovel from my car.  I plotted my course for the most efficient way to clear the drive.  I make a path up the middle so I don't have to walk in snow all the time and then I push the snow from the middle towards the edges, alternating sides.  Fritz chose to be much more random shall we say.  He left a pattern of blacktop slashes all over the drive.  I resisted the strong urge to say "No, that's not the way to do it!"  He was, after all, removing the snow and I was more concerned with him finding a joy in work rather than the work itself at seven years old. His enthusiasm more than made up for his skill.  I told him that many boys' first jobs are clearing driveways.  He was amazed to learn that some people will pay you for having fun.

I kept on my routine and eventually he saw and duplicated my movements.  He was a little miffed at the size of his shovel compared to our large driveway.  "Our driveway sure is bigger than our old one in Indiana."  I braced myself for more complaining and eventual quitting, but he followed that statement with "That's okay, it means more space to ride my bike," and kept right on shovelling.   We were more than three quarters done before Fritz began wondering if the snow would pack and we could make a snowman. 

When the job was done we discovered that this wasn't a packing snow, but that didn't stop my Schnickelfritz.  He made what may be the first lying down snowman. 

  This snowman is lying down because he just finished clearing the driveway with two shovels and is "completely exhausted" according to Fritz.  The artist, however, was not as tired and headed to the back yard for sledding before I called him in for some hot chocolate.