Bragging rights: Just shoveled a good 6 inches of snow from what I calculate is about 100 feet of sidewalk. I worked up a REAL healthy sweat.
What I have learned about shoveling snow:
Do it while it is 6 inches or under-- shoveling 10-14 inches of snow is a lot more work.
Shovel regularly to keep ahead of what the plows throw back into walkways and driveways.
Shoveling is easier without glasses-- they just get steamed up and then it looks like there is more snow than there really is.
Shoveling while it is 20 or warmer is better because the drips from the nose do not freeze right away.
Keep the bouncy dog away from the newly shoveled sidewalk--she drags snow right back onto it.
Well-insulated boots are a blessing.
Well-insulated dogs LOVE snow-- Lily thinks it is the gift of all time-- she literally swims in it-- digging holes and then rolling and flipping around like she was on peyote buttons-- and I swear she is not!
No matter that it means a lot of work if you live in the city, white, fluffy, newly fallen snow is one of the loveliest things I know of--
---along with the field of bluebells I remember in a valley near our cabin in West Virginia-- or the Maine coast on a foggy afternoon in summer--or the sky over the west side of the valley of Albuquerque at late sunset with moon rising over the mountains and sun setting over the desert and sky a purple that cannot be described.
What I haven't learned well enough
DO NOT LIVE ON A CORNER LOT IN THE CITY WHERE THERE ARE TREES/SNOW-- RAKING AND SHOVELING ARE TRIPLED IF NOT QUADRUPLED!!
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