Parenting

Snow morning session

11 Comments

snow_morning copyChip, scrape, chip, chip scrape.

Morning.
The early winter sky a brilliant blue.
Sun reflects shimmery on white, blinding me.

Chip, scrape, chip, chip scrape.

It was a little thing.
And then the next to follow the first. Both little.
One cover-up leading, as it will, to another.

Chip, scrape, chip, chip scrape.

The deceit itself isn’t the danger,
although it stings
(gullibility, after all, borne of a wanting to trust).

Chip, scrape, chip, chip scrape.

It’s that you think you know,
but you don’t,
what you will some day.
But I know, and so I worry.

And I shovel.

Chip, scrape, chip, chip scrape.

Mounds of heavy snow.
Ice underneath tamped by tread,
the footfalls of the paper boy,
your brother’s sled.

Chip, scrape, chip chip, scrape.

The snow and ice are tests. The shoveling is penance, it’s therapy, it’s
… well, it’s also city ordinance.
All sidewalks clear … I don’t know, by sometime today.

So I’ll finish mine and then the neighbor’s,
and maybe her neighbor’s after that….

Chip, scrape, chip chip, scrape.

Ice lets go reluctantly, stubborn as it is brilliant in the sun. …
every last piece moved from one place to another,
until my frustration dissipates

Like the string of expletives from the tip of my tongue.

Chip, scrape, chip chip, scrape,

Under the angst and the ache is a spark of childish glee;
from the same part of me that gets you.
My teensy delight as base and as small as your many, little lies.

Chip, scrape, chip chip, scrape,

Because that’s your bedroom window,
right up there,
on this bright, Saturday morning.

Chip, scrape.

Sleep well?

***

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11 comments

  1. Ah – the repetitive, required act of shoveling snow. I moved to DC from CA and had no idea what I was getting into. After freaking out through the first couple of winters, I now consider myself pretty handy with the the shovel.

  2. Ugh. I hate shoveling snow. And cleaning it off my car in the early morning too. Usually I am spoiled by my husband. He is smart and knows how much this momma likes a warm car and a cleared pathway. But sometimes, I have to do it myself, and I grumble the whole time! lol

  3. Ugh. I hate shoveling snow. And cleaning it off my car in the early morning too. Usually I am spoiled by my husband. He is smart and knows how much this momma likes a warm car and a cleared pathway. But sometimes, I have to do it myself, and I grumble the whole time! lol

  4. Oh my gosh, I love this! Too funny. I can\’t say I enjoy shoveling snow, but it can be a little therapeutic. We used to live in New Hampshire and had a MEGA long driveway that was a bear in the winter. Now we live in Utah and the winters aren\’t so harsh and our driveway is SO much less maintenance, so it doesn\’t seem quite as bad!

    1. This was a crazy snowstorm and then a deep freeze for several days. Our driveway faces south and usually the sun melts everything by mid day. But yes, it was a good work out and great therapy.

  5. So… do we get to know what happened with your son to get you upset? Sounds like you\’re much better after the snow shoveling. (Boy, am I glad I live in Florida!) I\’m wondering if it\’s something I\’ve already been through with my own son, or something I have to \”look forward to!\”

    1. I\’m working through how to put the story together, and I\’ll need his permission, of course. It\’s a life lesson for both of us, and something my friends who are parents of current teens are dealing with as well… plenty of elements to laugh about later. Possibly much later.

  6. I moved from Southern California to Minnesota. I also had no idea what I was getting into. At least for the first few years we had an apartment, and someone else shoveled for us. Living in our own house now, though, we have a long driveway, and it\’s a giant pain.

    Sometimes shoveling is my alone time.

    But most of the time I just hate it.

    I don\’t know which person in your house you were mad at, but I think they lucked out that you had ice to be aggressive with!