December 9: We woke to a beautiful blanket of crystal-white snow covering every inch of the landscape. What a fantastic sight! Can there be a lovelier place in the whole world? Moving here was the best idea I’ve ever had. I shoveled for the first time in years and felt like a boy again. I did both our driveway and the sidewalks. This afternoon the snowplow came along, covered the sidewalks, and closed in the driveway, so I got to shovel again. What a perfect life.
December 12: The sun has melted all our lovely snow. Such a disappointment. My neighbor Bob tells me not to worry; we’ll definitely have a white Christmas. No snow on Christmas would be awful! Bob says we’ll have so much snow by the end of winter that I’ll never want to see snow again. I don’t think that’s possible. Bob is such a nice man. I’m glad he’s our neighbor.
December 14: Snow, lovely snow! Eight inches last night. The temperature dropped to -20. The cold makes everything sparkle so beautifully. The wind took my breath away, but I warmed up by shoveling the driveway and sidewalks. This is the life! The snowplow came back this afternoon and buried everything again. I didn’t realize I would have to do quite this much shoveling, but I’ll certainly get back in shape this way.
December 15: Twenty inches forecast. Sold my van and bought a 4×4 Blazer. I bought snow tires for my wife’s car and two extra shovels. Stocked the freezer. My wife wants a wood stove in case the electricity goes out. I think that’s silly. We aren’t in Alaska, after all.
December 16: Ice storm this morning. Fell on my a$$ in the driveway while putting down salt. Hurt like h€ll. My wife laughed for an hour, which I think was very cruel.
December 17: Still way below freezing. Roads are too icy to go anywhere. The electricity was off for five hours. I had to pile on blankets to stay warm. Nothing to do but stare at my wife and try not to irritate her. Guess I should’ve bought a wood stove, but I won’t admit it to her. God, I hate it when she’s right. I can’t believe I’m freezing to death in my own living room.
