Tag: snow

We’re getting a lot of Snow, and my Snowblower doesn’t Work

I gassed up the car. Again, a near-empty tank meant I needed to join the other Doomsday Preppers, this time at the gas station. Since I needed to gas up the car, I figured I might as well bring my gas cans and top them off as well for my snowblower. I had plenty of gas in the snowblower, but I figured I would eventually need gas anyway, so what the heck.
Returning home with full gas cans and a gassed-up truck, I proceeded to the shed to pull out my snowblower. My dad bequeathed this to me when he got his new one. He never bought a snowblower until after my brother and I moved out. My brother and I are still somewhat curious about the timing of this purchase.

Snow day is here. New Englanders have been talking about this storm all last week. Last I checked the estimate for us in my part of Massachusetts is 18-24 inches.

Snowstorm Necessities

I needed to go to the grocery store. Not because I needed the obligatory milk and bread, but because we were genuinely out of staples needed for the house. I went to Shaw’s with the typical dread I face when needed groceries coincide with the latest episode of Snowmageddon. I must say it wasn’t that bad at Shaw’s.

I gassed up the car. Again, a near-empty tank meant I needed to join the other Doomsday Preppers, this time at the gas station. Since I needed to gas up the car, I figured I might as well bring my gas cans and top them off as well for my snowblower. I had plenty of gas in the snowblower, but I figured I would eventually need gas anyway, so what the heck.

Returning home with full gas cans and a gassed-up truck, I proceeded to the shed to pull out my snowblower. My dad bequeathed this to me when he got his new one. He never bought a snowblower until after my brother and I moved out. My brother and I are still somewhat curious about the timing of this purchase.

Tuning up the Snowblower

I moved the snowblower and went to work getting it ready for the big day; checked the gas and primed and started it up. The snowblower didn’t start. Went through everything again. Still nothing.

Time was running short. I needed to get to work. I decided I would check on everything when I got back to work. I did just that. Returned home, ate dinner, re-read the owner’s manual, and went back outside and braved the cold and loneliness (my Miracles of Christ were inside) to see if I could revive the snowblower. I could not, and that’s where we are now.

What am I going to do? Well, I’m going to shovel. There seems like I don’t have any other choice, barring a miracle. Lucky for me and my family, I’m a healthy guy, so a little exercise won’t kill me. I’m also brave, so there’s that, too.

Time to Shovel the Snow

Snow begins to fall. We’re expecting up to 24 inches.

Shoveling is nothing new. I’ve been shoveling snow for 40 years. For a couple of years, my brother-in-law hired me to shovel some properties overnight. One property for one storm should be easier than all that. I also have two other men in my house. I know they will be happy to drop everything and help this nice man with an hour or two of clearing snow. My plan is to get out there a few hours at a time. That way we won’t be overworking ourselves.

This storm looks to be an epic one. I’ll let you know how we do.

Back from Shoveling

I went out earlier in the day. It wasn’t bad. There was only a few inches on the ground. I went back inside to warm up and reward myself with a couple of games on my Nintendo Switch.

A cup of snow. I’m going to drink the water when it melts so I can feel like a survivalist.

I left a cup outside to collect some snow. When I went shoveling overnight, I would refill my hydro flask with snow, which would melt into water in my car. This came in handy when I got thirsty. I wouldn’t need to get out of my car. The cup has since filled with snow, and soon I will have a cup of water straight from the heavens.

While I was playing on my switch, the kids were outside making sure things didn’t get out of hand. I appreciated their efforts. Not long ago, Lovie, The Oppressed, The Boy and I went back outside for another round of shoveling. Slugger stayed inside and cooked dinner for everyone.

Walk to School Day with the Kids

We had a special day at the school of The Oppressed and The Boy. We had our annual “Walk to School Day”. Allow me to explain to you why this is a special event in my town. Sidewalks are few and far between. My neighborhood has no sidewalks at all, and we share the road with cars. It’s fun. Once you get out of my neighborhood, there may or may not be a sidewalk on one side that people walking in both directions can share. New York is a walking city. Some say Boston is a walking city. My city? Not so much.

I walked to school every day from the first grade to the eighth. I went to high school in a different town, so walking would have taken a while and proven a little difficult. When my kids started school, it was hard for me to understand how kids couldn’t walk to a school they live so close to, but here we are: Unable to walk to school every day.

Houses in a suburban neighborhood with walkways shoveled after getting 30 inches of snow.
The 30 inches of snow we received. Luckily, some was gone before our walk.

That’s alright. “Walk to School Day” gave me a chance to do something with my younger kids. One, like me, wishes we could do it every day. Another is happy to take a car to and from school. I tell both children we can’t walk to school if everyone doesn’t agree to walk. I don’t like taking the car, but it’s what I can do to keep everyone happy.

So, the day we walk to school finally arrived. Police were stationed at various points to make sure there was some type of demarcation between cars and pedestrians. One of my children had band practice. I carried their instrument for them so they wouldn’t be burdened too much. We made it to school. Hearts beating, blood pumping. Luckily, the day wasn’t as cold as it had been and some of the 30+ inches of snow we got had been cleared enough for us to move our legs. Our children were happy to be at school. The Oppressed was very happy because it meant the walk was over and she was promised we could drive home.

Children and parents in front of school in the morning.
Arriving at school. The end
of an arduous march.

That was fine. I was happy to walk home that morning and get a little more exercise. On the way home, I ran into someone who felt the need to bend my ear about something. I honestly don’t remember what, but they had a lot to say. I guess I forgot to remove the sign from my face that says, “Tell me Your Life Story”.

So, that was our morning walk. I went about my business and did what I needed to do after our morning constitutional. That afternoon, I went to pick up the children. As we were walking away from the building, The Oppressed reminds me I said we were driving home. I reminded her I never said what afternoon that was. You ever see hope leave a child’s face? It’s hilarious. I wish I had a camera.

“A Collection of Short Stories” is now available on Apple Books.

Walking to School with the Kids

We had a special day at the school of The Oppressed and The Boy. We had our annual “Walk to School Day”. Allow me to explain to you why walking to school with the kids is a special event in my town. Sidewalks are few and far between. My neighborhood has no sidewalks at all, and we share the road with cars. It’s fun. Once you get out of my neighborhood, there may or may not be a sidewalk on one side that people walking in both directions can share. New York is a walking city. Some say Boston is a walking city. My city? Not so much.

I walked to school every day from the first grade to the eighth. I went to high school in a different town, so walking would have taken a while and proven a little difficult. When my kids started school, I couldn’t understand how kids couldn’t walk to a school they live so close to, but here we are: Unable to walk to school every day.

Houses in a suburban neighborhood with walkways shoveled after getting 30 inches of snow.
The 30 inches of snow we received. Luckily, some was gone before our walk.

That’s alright. “Walk to School Day” gave me a chance to do something with my younger kids. One, like me, wishes we could do it every day. Another is happy to take a car to and from school. I tell both children we can’t walk to school if everyone doesn’t agree to walk. I don’t like taking the car, but it’s what I can do to keep everyone happy.

The Big Day

So, the day we walk to school finally arrived. Police were stationed at various points to make sure there was some type of demarcation between cars and pedestrians. One of my children had band practice. I carried their instrument for them so they wouldn’t be burdened too much. We made it to school. Hearts beating, blood pumping. Luckily, the day wasn’t as cold as it had been and some of the 30+ inches of snow we got had been cleared enough for us to move our legs. Our children were happy to be at school. The Oppressed was very happy because it meant the walk was over and she was promised we could drive home.

Children and parents in front of school in the morning.
Arriving at school. The end
of an arduous march.

That was fine. I was happy to walk home that morning and get a little more exercise. On the way home, I ran into someone who felt the need to bend my ear about something. I honestly don’t remember what, but they had a lot to say. I guess I forgot to remove the sign from my face that says, “Tell me Your Life Story”.

So, that was our morning walk. I went about my business and did what I needed to do after our morning constitutional. That afternoon, I went to pick up the children. As we were walking away from the building, The Oppressed reminds me I said we were driving home. I reminded her I never said what afternoon that was. You ever see hope leave a child’s face? It’s hilarious. I wish I had a camera. It reminded me of another day.

“A Collection of Short Stories” is now available on Apple Books.

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