Snow Day!

It snowed somewhere in the neighborhood of 10-12 inches here at our lovely central Indiana home last night. Erin's sick, so she was already taking the day off. And with my Chinese colleagues on vacation for Chinese New Year, my job is stalled, so I decided not to risk life and limb by traveling in to work today.

Instead, I got up, had breakfast, took my morning Aleve for my bad back and Prednisone for some lingering Sciatica, and spent a couple of hours heaving snow over my shoulder in an attempt to clear our driveway. I'm sure I'll walk again. Someday.

As I began pushing the snow around, I gave myself a little pep talk. "You know, it's more manly that you've chosen not to purchase a power tool to do this. I'm sure Erin thinks it far more chivalrous that you're out here using your own muscles to do this work, rather than spending our hard earned cash for a machine we might use twice a year."

Somewhere in there, I heard what sounded like a gang of giggling squirrels. I looked over, and one of my neighbors was out with an ELECTRIC snow blower. Now part of me was jealous, but part of me was laughing. The same neighbor has an electric lawn mower, which also makes me giggle. I'm all for saving the environment, but if you own an electric lawn mower, your wife better have made you buy it. It's just not right.

I watched him struggle with his faux-power tool for a while, and then went back to my snow heaving. I looked over every once in a while to see where he was, and it gave me a little boost. Sort of my own John Henry story, if you will. (Although, doesn't John Henry croak in the end? Eeks.)

Anyway, I'm proud to say that I beat him by a few paces in the end. I went over and tore my shirt open to show him my copious chest hair and overt manliness. I shoveled like a mad man -- even moving the stuff dumped by the snow plow at the end of the driveway. I'll let everyone know what my address is at Hendricks Regional Health.