February 01, 2005

The art of snow

What was forecast to be an 8-10-inch snowfall turned into three times as much last weekend. With no telephone service to call the man with the backhoe, the only way to open a Jeep-wide trail to the plowed county road was by hand. I reckon my wife and I moved about 600 cubic yards of snow with our one Ames snow shovel, a tool that I have to cherish these past few years.

Keeping my mind occupied beyond the mantra of "Scoop, scoop, scoop, step," I started inventing T'ai Chi Ch'uan moves: Bend Knees and Scoop, or Toss Snow Like Cloud. It was either that or drift back into humming one of Tenneesee Ernie Ford's greatest hits.

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