The Snowman Who Came in From the Cold

I have been putting off buying a new snow shovel for the last few years. It proved a good decision last year as I did no shovelling at all, although it was a tight call for a while. Would global warming save me from this detestable winter necessity? When I read earlier this fall that 80% of the earth recorded cooler temperatures than normal in '08, and Scandinavian scientists discovered that sun spot activity had virtually ceased, I connected the dots and my heart fell. And yes, it started snowing this week. When I arrived at the local store that was most likely to stock snow shovels, I was a bit concerned when I approached the entrance and three customers were coming through the door with new snow scoops. I needn't have rushed because there was a bin with probably 50 shiny new shovels waiting to be chosen. I hefted a few as though choosing a hockey stick or new set of golf clubs and decided on one sturdy looking fellow that had a straight and true grain in the handle and no warp in the scoop end. It looked quite capable of absorbing my blood, sweat, and tears. There were four others in the line at the checkout with the same purchase and I thought that a few hours later I would have been out of luck. I asked for a bag and fortunately I had a cashier with a sense of humour. She replied that it was good thing that they had doubled the price just the day before. I smiled as I wondered if it was really true.

I slipped and slid home, anxious to try my new tool. OK. I am exaggerating. I was hoping the temperature would suddenly rise and I could go back and get a refund on my purchase.

As I scraped and shovelled, I was quite pleased that I had 'taken the plunge' and bought a new hi tech shovel. It was going so well and I was not exerting myself as hard as in years past. Then it occurred to me that it was not the shovel, but the consistency of the snow. It was cold dry snow, very light and fluffy, not the cardiac arresting wet snow of years gone by. Maybe I could have used the old shovel one more year.