Clearly my move to this house was meant to be – in less than 1.5 months since moving here, I experienced the first good snowfall since my move to RI. (Actually its my first good snowfall in at least five years, regardless of where I’ve been living.) A proper nor’easter, dumping about 12 inches on my neighborhood.

If you know me at all, you know I love winter, cold weather and snow. I enjoy snowshoeing, and its a fabulous outdoor workout for the winter months. (I’m reluctant to call myself a snowshoer given I’ve probably only done it 10 times or less in the seven plus years since I first purchased them.) The one drawback? You really need a good amount of snow, at least six inches, in order to snowshoe. That kind of snowfall has eluded my living spaces for years.

But no more! At least for one weekend.

I was skeptical about the predictions but this time they were accurate. Meanwhile, my friends back in Philly dealt with the usual nasty mess of snow followed by sleet, freezing rain, ice. I feel their pain, all while enjoying the beautiful snow surrounding me now.

But my love of snow gets a bit more complicated now that I am a “hashtag homeowner.”

My new house has a 2-car garage (lovely!), thus sparing me the chore of shoveling out my car, de-icing the windows and doors. Instead, I have a small driveway, several sidewalks, a porch, and a rooftop deck to keep clear.

I did a wee bit of shoveling before 8:00 a.m. this morning. Yes, that’s right, before 8:00 a.m. – I had to get up early and everything to do it! I was expecting a repairman at 8:00 and while I was certain he wouldn’t be coming, he didn’t cancel, and so I shoveled the walk for him. Sigh.

(Look for a blog on all things contractors and repairmen one day soon.)

This snowfall was especially heavy. When I went out to do ‘real’ shoveling in the afternoon, I was ready to stop after about 10 minutes, lol. Of course I couldn’t. At the very least I had to clear enough snow from the garage so I could drag the trash and recycling barrels out for pick-up tomorrow morning.

The nicest thing happened, though, as I continued shoveling. My neighbor came over to help me after he, his wife and sons had finished their driveway. So unexpected, and so nice! There may just be something worthwhile about this neighbor thing, lol.

He helped with the most difficult part of the driveway, where the snow was piled up as the plows passed by, high and heavy, frozen and impenetrable. He made sure to clear the corners of the driveway so I could get my car out without scraping into anything.

We hadn’t talked for several weeks, so we took the opportunity to get to know each other a bit better. Not only enjoyable, the conversation was also enlightening:

• He insisted I use their pool next summer as they rarely do now that they have a boat
• They have a boat!
• My road is always well plowed since one of my neighbors was a state senator and has recently become a state supreme court judge
• No one ever really clears the public sidewalks in front of their houses (thank goodness, I already have enough to clear!)

I assured him he would end up sorry for extending the pool invitation as I will definitely use it. I told him my own plans for a pool but my reluctance to get one immediately in order to save more for a pool down payment…oh, and retirement, of course.

In turn, he insisted he meant it.

He mentioned that he and his wife have wanted to get together (in a COVID-appropriate way, of course) but had been hesitant to knock on my door out of the blue. It’s just not done in these strange COVID days. So we exchanged phone numbers.

I also told him his kids could use my driveway for the next snowstorm if that was useful. They are a “Brady Bunch” family and each of the kids is driving age so they do struggle with managing all their cars. With parking banned on the streets during weather events, I do hope they find my offer useful.

Although I was truly wanting to offer something useful, I also know that cars in my driveway will mean less snow to shovel! 😉 My neighbor pointed the same thing out and we had a good laugh.

He also advised on a good spot for me to snowshoe this weekend. We both agreed it was certain the cold weather would keep the snow in place for at least that long, likely longer.

Hurray! Snowshoeing this weekend!