Re: [gardeners] Snow Shoveling
penny x stamm (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Thu, 27 Jan 2000 15:46:50 -0500
Byron, that essay hits home.
We've had bad ones, of course. One time there was so much snow that
our 1956 red & white Oldsmobile was totally buried and could not be
found, in our own back yard.
Another time we had ghastly ice, with snow only 24" high. That meant
that all the branches of the azaleas and rhodies protected by the snow
were able to produce their flowers the next spring. But ALL the branches
above that 24" mark were denuded. The shrubs survived, but not the
blooms. So walking by my house things looked as if I had fogotten to
finish the old paint-by-number job! The lawns were smooth, shiny,
sheet ice, like a perfect skaiting rink. And my passionate favorite, the
Abies Koreana nana bush-tree out front went into spasms. When
spring came, it created thousands of seed cones, scattered them,
and then dropped dead. What a storm...!
Of course, back in December 1947, we had a doozer. We had to jump
out of our 2nd story windows into the snow, in order to escape from the
house! And you can't believe how long it takes for a person to "walk"
20 steps when the snow is 6 ft deep...
Nevertheless, Jimmie never tires of shoveling. His bad shoulder, and
his bad wrist, and his bad knee don't bother him while he's in his
paradise -- it's as if the cold, brisk air were a narcotic tonic.
Penny, NY
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