The Sky, the Snow and the Shovel

Matthew 16

The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven. 2 He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ 3 and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.[a] 4 A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Jesus then left them and went away.

Here in Central Pa., we were on the receiving end of the largest amount of snow ever measured in these here parts. 

We were begging for some snow. Watch what you beg for. A week ago, the weather prophets were telling us that the models were showing a historic snow event. The satellite pictures showed the Northeaster' looking like a pink fist punching Pennsylvania in the face. When I was in Quebec, it was all snow and no shoveling. And no suffering. This snow had a price to be paid. 

When driving to school on Friday morning, I saw a red/orange sky. That was enough of a confirmation for me that we were in line for a snow-whupping. I do love snow but not as I did as a kid. As a child, one of my fondest memories was watching the snowfall with my Dad when we lived in West Virginia out the basement window at night circa 1967.   

Now, I am more considering the costs. 

With the impending storm, it reminded me of what Jesus said about reading the signs of the sky but ignoring the signs of the times. Coincidental that Jonas (the name of the storm) is from the biblical name Jonah.  Thousands of people got stuck on the Turnpike who ignored the signs, or at least thought they could outdrive the storm.  

Talking about missing the signs of the times...here is a wider application: 

Makes me consider why Christian colleges and universities are courting a man like Trump. A man who shows no fruits of the Spirit but has billions of dollars. Shooting his mouth off. Literally.  Pearls before Swine? I give him this much: He speaks his mind, as profane as it is. I am all for equal time. Sanders spoke a Liberty University. So did Trump. Yet, one doesn't have to be a Diviner to deduce who had home team advantage. Junior's fawning was embarrassing to him, his school, and the Faith. Period. 

Trump's recent comment about shooting people of 5th avenue happened at some no name Christian college. The man should be  shown the exit when defiling the Gospel so grotesquely. 

Meanwhile....back to the storm: With the 30 inches of snow that fell, I decided to man the shovel at regular intervals to break the accumulation into manageable amounts. I hit the driveway Saturday morning at 8:00 AM and there was already about ten inches on the asphalt. I decided to not shovel out the car or take on the end of the driveway until the snowplow came through.  The crusts of the driveway, like a loaf of bread.

So, I dealt with the 80% of the driveway in the middle and shoveled it four additional times. Although the back ached, with sit-ups before and after each shovel-accompanied with aspirin-I kept my lower back from going macro-spasm. Sore but not spasmed. 

Sunday morning, I took on the three to four foot snow wall at the end of the driveway created by the snowplow and then freed the car from its icy grip. From what I could tell, despite having the longest driveway in the development, I completed the cleaning first among all comers, even among those with snowblowers. 

John Henry lives.

I then helped my neighbors shovel out our collective mailbox which was greatly assisted by a neighbor who had a Cub Cadet snowblower that was like a mini-tractor. It was an impressive display and it saved us a ton of time and effort. 

I was happy that I had been so proactive with my shoveling. But, and it is a big but, I missed enjoying the snow. I was so intent of staying ahead of it, I didn't take time to take it in. Except for 2:00 AM Saturday morning when I got out of bed and walked around outside for about 15 minutes.  Took a picture at that time:

Needless to say my enthusiasm waned after shoveling. Part of it was the extreme accumulation. This was the real deal. Not some dusting. I am also older with less tolerance for harsh tests of endurance. I had to use my brain to calculate an approach to the snow so that it would not create a week worth of bodily blowback like blizzard winds. As it is, I feel pretty good. The back aches a bit but I think the half-life will conclude as of Monday morning. Monday, I intend to hit a hill down the block, one that a neighbor down the road pointed out, to do some snowboarding.  Work first, fun later. 

I was fairly philosophical when shoveling. 

One adage: Each driveway starts with a single shovel. 

I also added an addendum to Commandment 10: 

Thy shalt not covet thy neighbor's snowblower. 

When I saw how quickly the snowblowers spewed the snow, it made my exertions seem existentially meaningless. Within 30 minutes, while I napped on Sunday afternoon, my neighbor's driveway was clean. All that time, smarts, and effort bested by a machine. Sliced clean like a deli does roast beef:

John Henry has a bad back. 

I could afford buying a snowblower but there is a part of me, like the Amish, that needs to feel the burden of hard work. Whether it is finishing my Ph.D., writing a book, going for a five mile run, or shoveling two-plus feet of snow, it is good to cultivate an attitude of taking on hard things. 

A neighbor and I were chatting about when we were kids, we would be knocking on neighbor's doors offering to shovel snow for dollars. No kids in sight yesterday looking to turn  a profit.  And when I was a kid, it was uphill both ways to school, in the snow, when we walked. Actually, my school in West Virginia was downhill from the house. I remember sliding down on my coat to it.  So it was both fun and work.