We'll All Be A'Shovelin'

Shoveling snow has got to be one of the most aggravating things about living in New England. It's not the physical act of moving snow from one place to another--it's not difficult and it's good exercise--but the sense of futility. Not only will you have to start over again with the very next storm, but once the season is well underway to have to be thinking about the storms to come three or four months in advance.

It's all about storage. From our little 900 square feet or so of active parking space, we have to toss the snow far enough to either side so that we don't end up with a tall pile that keeps falling back in, leaving the space too narrow for the three cars that have to share it. If that happens we end up having to move big piles of snow, which have by then become wetter and harder, to the edges of the property. It pays to think ahead.

Yesterday's snow was even more aggravating because after a couple of hours cleaning up the yard in the morning, a second wave of storm clouds dropped another four or five inches, and we at least had to go back out to shovel a couple of paths.

But I don't have so much to complain about; the North Country (the part of New Hampshire north of the White Mountains) got as much as two feet of snow from this last storm. I have no ideas where I would put all that snow. I hope I don't find out later in the year.

January Blues

January is not usually a good month for me. Some have been downright disastrous (both the Northridge quake and my father-in-law's death occurred in January), but most are just annoying. This one is starting out with a virus of some sort that yesterday morning went right for my throat and chest. Not enough to keep me away from work (especially because I do not get sick pay), and I muddle through for a trip with Karen and the boys to the First Night festivities in Wolfeboro (which was worth the effort), but by the time I got home last night I was exhausted. I went to bed a little after 10:00 and woke up a little before 10:00 this morning.

I'll take it easy today to help me recover, but I can't play at that game for too long. This is going to be a busy year. I've been reviewing my list of goals for 2010, and they're ambitious. I have a house to finish (and not just finish, but help make into a home), at least one play (and I'm hoping for four, because the entire Village Players line-up is just too good to resist), a landmark birthday celebration to plan for my lovely wife, and a family vacation back to California.

And I would like to get myself back on a real career track. When I connect with so many old workmates on Facebook and remember the kinds of things I used to do for a living, it pains me to think about where I've ended up. We've had some difficult years since we arrived in the Granite State, but we've come through with our family intact, and it's time to turn things around. Onward and upward!

But first I think I need to have a little nap (cough, cough).