Plowing Through

“Um! Um!” said my sister Beck, pointing out the windshield of Greg’s ‘98 Chevy plow truck.  

I looked where she was pointing.

“I don’t think that’s supposed to be there, is it?” She asked, her panic matching mine.

There in the middle of the road was a snow bank.

We looked at it agog and screamed.

“Ohhh!! Ugh!! Ugh!! Ugh!!” I believe I said.

I had just congratulated us on plowing the driveway somewhat successfully.

It was mid 2000’s . Beck was home for Christmas, and a big snowstorm hit while Greg was away at work.  Our long winding driveway needed to be plowed in order for me to get out to work the next morning.

The only hitch was I didn’t know how to plow snow. 

On break, Greg found a phone and called me, giving me patient, explicit instructions. How to operate the plow controls, the effects of angling the plow this way and that, where to stack the snow, obstacles around which to maneuver were all part of the lesson.

We hung up.

Beck and I suited up, got in the truck, and screamed and laughed from the moment the plow first fell to the ground with a scary thud, to the moment we parked the truck.  Sheer exhilaration.

This sweet memory came bubbling up as I rode along with Greg as he plowed a couple neighbors out after Saturday night’s storm.

As he carefully described the particular needs and considerations for each driveway (I suspect preparing me to pinch hit if need be) I suddenly reconnected with the terror and joy of that long ago night.  

There was a snowbank in the road because I had left the plow down as I cautiously pulled into the road and backed up a smidge to make a final tidying-up sweep down the drive. I was still backing up, checking for traffic when Beck looked forward and saw THE SNOWBANK IN THE ROAD.

For a moment, things weren’t all that funny. Someone could get hurt! Or seriously annoyed.

We composed ourselves.  Well, not really. We managed to stop screaming, take in enough oxygen for our brains to function, and GOT THE SNOWBANK OUT OF THE ROAD.

Phew. We were so happy to have completed our mission that snowy winter night. Slack with relief might be another way of putting it. We did it, and we made a gem of a memory. 

Best wishes to you as you take in the joys of the season and reconnect with your own lovely memories. Merry Christmas!