Acts of kindness

I am greeted in the early morning by decks gleaming white from 6 inches of snow, an absence of driveway or street, icicles clinging to branches, as well as patches of snow. The mountains are a combination of white and green again.

When the sun begins to ascend, the clouds gradually take on a deepening rose hue and the mountain homes are backlit in color. This morning quail were on the upper deck, walking the rails and calling to others to join them.

As they are too large to perch on the feeder, they depend on the smaller breeds dropping seed to the deck and soon go below for richer pickings. The snow plow seems out of place in this serene setting and an appearance of horse and sled would seem more appropriate.

Snow starts falling again before eight, after I have cleaned the decks, but most of the sky is azure instead of cloud-hidden, it is not a serious storm as yet, but merely passing flurries. I start clearing the driveway by eight even though, as I work, I see more serious gray clouds move in over the forest line and a cold wind quickly picks up.

The snow is so damp it clings to the shovel and it takes a bit of pounding to remove, and still some adheres to it. My feet are freezing and my back prevents me from making the progress I did yesterday.

I realize today will be a long, slow, process. Lord, give me fortitude. By 9:30 I am wondering at the wisdom of my continued shoveling, as the progress is slower, the air colder, and the snow heavier. There are no blue patches left of the sky, but a continuous fog like mist as the latest storm takes over the morning.

I take time to fill the bird feeder that a pesky little squirrel has claimed as his own and nearly emptied. Patience will get me a worthwhile picture as he performs his acrobatics. The weather has cleared some, so the snow shoveling continues. I also needed to fill the feeders in the trees, they have quickly been emptied by my abundance of bird visitors.

I gave the wee lucky squirrel who spends most of his day on my lower deck a treat of several peanuts, and in a blink of the eye, they were gone. My day ended with an act of kindness. After taking a break inside the house to warm up, I went out to finish shoveling and found the young man from next door with a snow shovel in hand finishing up clearing my driveway for me.

02122001