random thoughts – Day 1,797 – (Sunday) – snow woes

More snow. There have been winters when this would have made me happy. When I worked at a ski lodge, snow meant more skiers who get hungry and thirsty and that meant more tip money in my waitress apron pocket. In more recent years, it meant skiing and snow shoeing opportunities.

So far this year, winter has meant cold and wind, and this month it’s meant snow that caused us to miss two consecutive weeks of Sunday dance group. But it gifted me with two fractured wrist bones, so maybe winter thinks we’re even on the trades.

One-handed effort.

I managed to shovel the front and back steps with a one-handed technique that involved some kicking of the backside of the shovel blade, but the driveway was too deep and too much to tackle. I couldn’t get the door open from inside the porch to access the side deck. The basement is taking in water on one wall, requiring one handed broom pushing to the sump pump pit. 

The weather had me cozied up on the couch in a mismatched outfit chosen for  the absence of zippers and buttons and with roomy sleeves that accommodate the wrapped wrist. Accessories were a teal hand towel and two ice gel packs. I looked like I dressed in the dark for my Netflix movie day. 

There was a French movie about a dinner party, an Italian one where the lead character bought a villa for one euro, another Italian one about a chef inheriting a restaurant, and a kind of dumb one where a jilted groom went on his honeymoon trip with his mother. A nice day of mostly mindless entertainment.

I’ve been letting a neighbor park in my extra off-street space during snowstorms and parking bans, which has come with a consequence for the past two weeks. The two weekend storms and the extra car in the driveway have meant I haven’t been able to get my trash barrels out to the curb on Sunday for Monday pickup. There is barely twelve inches between the back of the car and the bins, which isn’t enough room for me to pull them away from the house, and they aren’t exactly rugged four wheel drive all terrain vehical models that can navigate the snow mound running the length of the driveway, especially with one hand. 

Luckily, I barely fill half a trash bag a week and I can go as long as six weeks before the recycling is full, so capacity isn’t the issue so much as the habit of it and value for my trash collection dollars which increased by $200 this year. Maybe next week there won’t be a storm, dance class can happen, and my bins won’t be blocked in by a car and can go to the curb. Fingers are crossed, but only on the hand that still works.