Learning the Hard Way

Sometime in the early summer my neighbors Ed and Debbie put their house up for sale. Debbie had been offered a job on the east coast and they were moving. The real reason for the move was so that they could be closer to their children, both of whom are grown and getting ready to start families.

They were simply fabulous neighbors and we miss the heck out of them.

Because their house was so very nice it sold quickly to another couple with older children. Dan and Stephanie moved here from Tennessee when Stephanie was transferred by her company. Dan has a job that allows him to live anywhere. Their children had remained in the south.

After they settled in a little I went over and introduced myself and chatted for a little while. They were born and raised in the Volunteer State and had never experienced a northern winter.

I told them to buy a snow blower and that they wouldn't regret it. They told me that other people had told them the same thing and that if they waited for the snow it would be too late.

On Friday we got our first real snowstorm of the year. We'd had other snow fall, but not much more than two inches or so. We got around 10 inches of powdery snow in about 8 hours and it was really cold and windy, which lead to blowing and drifting.

Mona and I went to work together and when we got home I went outside to fire up my snow blower and clear the driveway.

Most of the other neighbors were already cleared out. But when I went outside I saw Dan in his back yard. So I figured I'd head over there just to say "Welcome to Michigan." And that's when I learned just how little they know about snow.

When I got to their fence I saw Dan shoveling. But he wasn't using a snow shovel to plow the snow out of the way. Nope. He had a coal shovel and was using it to fill up a wheel barrow! Then he was dumping the snow in his back yard. It was funny and sad at the same time. If I was a southerner I think the expression would be "Well bless his heart!"

I didn't have the heart to tell him "I told you so" or to offer shoveling tips, but I told him that I'd come over with my snow blower and finish up. Stephanie came to the door and we talked for a bit. They were both a little shell shocked. I told them that this was a pretty good snow but that it wasn't a crippler. We'd be fine by today.

We've got another inch or two tonight and more coming on Tuesday. Not much, maybe 4 inches all in all. The upside is we're guaranteed a white Christmas.

I hope Dan and Stephanie go out and get themselves a snow machine. They're good investments if you're over 35 and live anyplace that gets real snow.

My snow blower is freaking awesome. I shoveled for seven years, but after ending up in the E.R. on the morning of my wedding getting shot up with Morphine and ending up stoned on Vicodin and muscle relaxers for the rest of the day because I blew my back out shoveling, Mona let me get this.

I've got the biggest one on the block. I do my house, 2 others neighbors driveways and the sidewalks for 5 houses. I'm pretty sure all the neighbor ladies think "Wow, what a stud- His wife is so lucky!" when they see me skillfully controlling such a powerful machine.

Oh yeah.