I just came in from finishing up the latest round of snow shovelling, which is my best source of real physical activity these days. I have to say that I am always surprised and gratified at just how much any outdoor exercise improves my overall mood and sense of wellbeing almost automatically.
And I especially do like shovelling snow, oddly enough, and this comes from a longtime Hater Of Winter. Maybe it's because it gives me power over two things I so dislike, Winter and Being Cold. These things often hold sway over me, both physically and emotionally. But when I go outside and shovel, it's like I'm bossing them around; I'm refusing to succumb to Winter and the Cold.
I also think a great deal of it is that I can see steady progress as I work. The shovel leaves clear swaths of driveway and sidewalk. It's obvious where I've been and how much I have yet to do. There's also a definite end, an absolute finish to the work. When the driveway and sidewalk are clear, I'm done! I can put away my shovel and go in. In my career as a teacher, that wasn't the case. Even when I was done teaching a particular novel or unit and gave the final test, I still had stragglers--kids who were absent and had to make up assignments, quizzes, projects, and tests. They had deadlines, hypothetically, but you'd be surprised at how much leeway there was, especially if parents got involved. I was forever hauling out folders of answer keys, makeup versions of tests, moving backwards into my gradebook, trying always in vain to get everyone (for once) at the same starting/ending point. I even had kids trying to make stuff up after the final grades were in and the school year had ended! Trust me, even when the Fat Lady sang, it was never really over.
The rewards of snow shovelling are so tangible. A clear driveway, obviously; a job done; that feeling of accomplishment as I look down that stretch of clear concrete; stepping into the house and feeling the warmth envelop me and see it steam up my sunglasses; the satisfaction of shedding each layer of coat, mittens, headband, boots; and finally, sitting down with the contentment of a job well done and done all by myself.
I hate winter with a Passion, believe me. Actually, more accurately, I hate Snow with a passion. I could live with Winter were it not for Snow. I never find it pretty, ever. It's dangerous at its worst and an inconvenience at its best. But I try to make the best of it.
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Back in the days when I used to plow snow and be in the truck over ten hours at a stretch I'd come home and shovel the sidewalk. It was the best therapy for a sore back. When my dad was in Hospice and I'd stay with him, shoveling his driveway was down right therapeutic. So I totally agree with your high line.
ReplyDeleteHope your husband heals quickly.
Jean--Thank you for your good wishes. So far, he's making good progress.
DeleteI have to say that shovelling does bother my back, despite trying all kinds of ways to avoid that side effect. The discomfort doesn't last too long, however, so the benefits far outweigh the negative.
There is a trick to using your whole body and not just your back to lift snow in the shovel and throwing it off to the side.
DeleteWhen my husband had back spinal surgery, I was the do er. For a long while. IT was worth it. His surgery is still a success. I like our snowblower. I did all the snow this week (one day) because Fireman was replacing our kitchen sink. I do find snow lovely. I do. Until
ReplyDeleteMarch..then. I am so done.
I love cutting the lawn too. It is such a visual reward.
Lately tho, a plow would be nice!
kathy b--This is Rick's second spinal fusion. The first failed after 15+ years. I'm so glad your husband is still feeling/doing well. I agree; it's very much worth it.
DeleteI don't use the snowblower as of yet. As I mentioned, I prefer the exercise of old fashioned shovelling if the snow is manageable. If it gets to be too much (as it was during the storm upon our return home from the hospital), then Sam will come and snowblow.
Where you live, it's a bonus that you find snow lovely. I wish that I did! It certainly would help.
Dee--Isn't that a great picture? I have a lot of fun finding the perfect graphics for my posts.
ReplyDeleteAnd your summation is an apt one. I can sort through and get rid of a lot of Stuff as I clear out that driveway. My brain gets just as clear in the process.
I love winter and I love snow - but I DETEST ice! Summer is my nemesis.
ReplyDeleteBut I'm glad that shovelling results in a positive feeling for you - I agree for the same reasons.
Bridget--I know how you loathe Summer. And I get it; I really do. There are days and days of Summer that I steadily detest its humidity, its unrelenting highs of 90s, its bugs, and its refusal to allow me to dress comfortably. But it never makes me long for Winter, ever, and certainly not snow.
DeleteIsn't it funny how people's preferences can be so very opposite? But I do agree about ice. That stuff scares me, too.
When we lived in WI, my husband used the snow blower on our long driveway and I shoveled both walkways and the large patio. I always thought I had the easy job until he was sick and I used the snow blower. It was huge, had chains on the tires, several gears, an automatic electric starter and was self-propelled. All I had to do was to walk behind it. At that moment I realized I had been the one with the more difficult job and we rotated after that. We did have a good laugh about it.
ReplyDeleteNCmountainwoman--Great story! I'm tickled at how you imagined you had the harder task, even when your husband was using a machine. I know Rick's snowblower--also self-propelled--is not difficult to use, but I'm generally intimidated by machines I can possibly break. I'll continue to shovel Old School as long as the snow is light and Rick is recovering.
DeleteI haven't lived in a city that has actual winter in over ten years. When I go to a place with snow, it's usually purposefully and for only a few days. So under these conditions, I'm almost always excited to see the snow when I do.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious if you have any fun memories of snow or winter from your childhood. Did you go sledding? Make snow angels or snowmen? Did you always hate the winter and the snow?
One of my earliest memories of Joanna was when we were very young and digging a tunnel through the snow at her house. She was digging from one end of the pile and I was digging from the other end. She was using the only shovel, and so I was digging with my gloved hands. And when we met in the middle, the shovel met my upper lip. I was bleeding quite a lot, but she didn't want to get in trouble. So she went inside and snuck out some paper towels, which we used to stop the bleeding. I ended up being fine, of course, but I did have a small scar that was there for a good decade.
Another memory I have, again with Joanna in the winter, was sledding at the hill at Cascade Park. I was going down the hill on one of those plastic sleds that you can't really steer, and there was a man at the bottom of the hill who was standing there but looking in the other direction. I was heading in his general direction, and so I was shouting, "Move out of the way!" Everybody else on the hill heard me, but he didn't. I plowed right into him, knocking him over and unconscious. They took him away in an ambulance. We ended up seeing him at the hill a week or two later, so clearly he was okay.
Come to think of it, it's amazing that I still enjoy the snow ;-)
Mikey--You and Joanna, always such Partners In Crime! And that doofus at the bottom of a sledding hill NOT being aware deserved to get plowed into.
DeleteAs a child, if we wanted to go out in the snow, we four kids were bundled up (including those horrid over-the-shoe rubber boots), then sent out and admonished to "stay out there and don't come back in for at least an hour!" Back then, there weren't the weatherproof/waterproof coats, mittens, etc. I would end up with balls of snow stuck to the inside wrist part of my mittens, feel stuffed and uncomfortable due to the layers of clothing, and sort of wander around with not much to do that felt fun, really. I hated snowball fights, didn't see the purpose of snow angels, and there was no place to go sledding other than to pull each other down the street. It all felt like a lot of work in the cold. I would always rather have been in the house reading a book.
I take it you don't miss snow or winter. I know I wouldn't either. Who needs it? ;-)
I like to watch it snow. From inside. I like shoveling in theory, but in practice I'm kind of a wimp so I get exhausted pretty quickly, especially if the snow is really wet & heavy. I also am very nervous about creating an ice situation by not shoveling thoroughly. As a consequence, I'd rather try to get my car to drive on the snow than shovel it. Ha!
ReplyDeleteBug--By driving ON the snow, you are creating the ice situation by compacting the snow. That's one of the reasons I shovel.
DeleteI have terribly weak arms, so I go slowly when I shovel. I hope (and tell myself) that I'm building up more arm strength by shovelling, but I honestly don't notice any improvement.
Still, the mental lift is the best benefit. And I like that I'm helping out the mail carriers, dog walkers, and kids who walk to and from the neighborhood schools.
Thinking of you and this wicked winter you’re having, especially this year. Enjoyed your snow shoveling essay. Can appreciate how much better you feel after the physical activity as I’ve noted the same. Unlike you I’ve liked snow sometimes but never had to do much shoveling. What I didn’t like was the extreme cold but could accept it if I had all the attire to keep my entire body warm which wasn’t always the case. I must confess to having no desire to experience the snow, ice and cold now at my age.
ReplyDeleteJoared--Thank you for thinking of me! That's so nice. And I'm glad you enjoyed this post.
DeleteMy father was a great appreciator of Nature, and all of his children carried on that Legacy. I can appreciate the Winter landscape and understand the processes of Winter, but I don't have any fondness for it. He didn't either; he preferred more temperate seasons, as do I.
You and Mikey are well where you are in California. Go visit some snow when you wish to, as a novelty. You're just fine without it, trust me.
Snow always seems so lovely in theory but the realities are slipping, sliding, falls, car accidents and so much more. Stay warm int he Polar Vortex, it must be awful being in that kind of cold.
ReplyDeleteMereknits--That's the truth of so many things, isn't it? There are Romanticized Versions of lots of things--the Pinterest Versions, let's say--but the Realities are always much messier and less idealized. Surely you hear wistful people say, especially this time of year, "Oh, I'd so much rather live in Florida! There's no snow, no bitter cold, and I could be warm all the time!" I'm sure you could list several Realities of Florida Living that would balance the scales a bit.
DeleteThe Polar Vortex will be exiting NEO today, and we will be in the 40s and possibly see 50s by Monday! I am unreasonably excited about SEEING MY FRONT LAWN and my deck again!
Living in the deep south all these years I have not seen much snow, so when it snows we all like it. It usually lasts just a couple of days, and everything and everybody stop moving. Here in Nashville last week we had a hint of snow one morning, and by noon it was gone – no need to shovel (good, as I don’t own a shovel.) Shoveling is strenuous exercise I hear, you must be very fit. It is hard to believe that it warmed up so quickly. Here today it is 66 F and is going to be 76 F by Wednesday.
ReplyDeleteVagabonde--Bonjour! Welcome to the Dept.! We are basking in 55 degrees and sunshine today, and I could not be happier. (Well, perhaps that is a bit untrue; I would be wildly ecstatic with 66 or 76.) Snow as a novelty...what Bliss that would be. I always say that snow is completely unnecessary since so much of the world does perfectly fine without it.
DeleteI am reasonably fit, but after living with snow for our whole lives, we Northerners have learned how to shovel safely and efficiently. And snow shovels are quite ergonomically designed as well.
I completely get it. Once upon a time, when my daughters were an infant and a toddler, I went out and mowed the lawn, which was usually my husband's job. I just wanted to do ONE thing that didn't need to be done again in five freaking minutes.
ReplyDeleteStacy Rushton--Hi, and welcome to the Dept.! Exactly--you do get it. And, yes, especially here in Northeastern Ohio (NEO), it will undoubtedly snow again; I will have to clear the driveway many, many times until the threat of snow is gone sometime around Mother's Day. But each time I shovel, the rewards I enumerated are so satisfying and tangible.
DeleteYou bring up such an important point. Mothers especially can identify with the feeling that things never truly Feel Done. So much of our jobs are on a continuum--like child-raising--and they don't really have an endpoint that's identifiable. It can feel like a slog!
Thanks for commenting.
Great picture!! LOL
ReplyDeleteI always *think* I will like shoveling snow, but the reality is that I do not. I also hate cleaning off the car (no garage). I'm glad my company tells us to stay home if it gets bad...or at least a 2-3 hour delay (just like the schools). I like seeing the snow, I just don't want to deal with it.
Vera--I detest cleaning off the car. Thankfully, I have a garage, so the only time I ever have to do it is if it snows like crazy when I've been parked someplace. I never like seeing snow because I automatically make the connection that I will have to deal with it--drive in it, walk in it, or have it inconvenience me. And I've lived in NEO my whole life! So silly.
DeleteHaving grown up until the age of 12 in states with a lot of snow, I have both positive and negative feelings about this, although both, of course, based on a child's perspective. I can remember one winter night in New York (Williamson, a tiny hamlet near Rochester) when the heating went out and we had 18 inches of snow with temps well below zero. I remember my dad having to put chains on the tires because we didn't have 'snow tires.' As for shoveling snow: I was so young that I never had to do that myself! I loved making snow angels and riding down hills in a 'snow saucer'. I did not love being sent out to 'play in the snow' when it was bitterly cold or having to dry our snow-crusted mittens in the oven afterwards. So... yeah, I sympathize with all the 'adult' inconveniences of snow. Where I live now, snow is not the biggest winter threat, but ice accumulations on the roads (especially 'black ice') are scary, even with the sanding/salting trucks doing their best. Mr. O. is the designated driver for taking me to work when that happens.
ReplyDeleteSo far, this winter has not been bad at all in north Texas. I am crossing my fingers that we will not have a bad spate of snow + icy roads, especially since... these days I am driving under precarious conditions (recovering from a dislocated shoulder and driving a car with standard transmission, lol!).
I hope that Rick is recovering nicely and that you are not going nuts with the Polar Vortex. XXOO
Ortizzle--We kids shovelled lots of snow once we were older. My father had two kidney surgeries and a bad back, so we four kids kept our driveway passable. Actually, make that three kids, mostly: the baby of the family didn't do much of that, unless my memory is faulty.
DeleteI have several friends in the South who dread ice storms and the attendant power outages and driving hazards. We get some ice--and the dreaded highway black ice--but since winter weather is such a common occurrence here, we've got all the equipment necessary to fight it handily, unlike TX and other southern areas.
Rick is recovering astonishingly well, thank you, and I'm not going nuts so much with winter weather as I am with having An Extra Person Around, if you know what I mean. AHEM.
Please be careful. Write you soon. XXOO