Mothers’ Day 2014. It took me 2 days to shovel driveway. Next day was my 60th birthday.

Okay, true confession here at the beginning: I am obsessive and compulsive about keeping Dad’s driveway clean. This is my second winter here. Last winter, it snowed ALL the time—maybe more! Dad was so fragile by then, I developed an obsession to keep emergency access open at all times. And in the spring, I discovered that the snow along the street on both sides melts and drains down Dad’s driveway, freezing at night, leaving the driveway treacherous.

 (I slipped and fell on this driveway my first Christmas visit in December 2009. Later I found out I had broken the wrist. Fortunately, both my children (young adults) were visiting Dad and me, and they did all the work and the driving, bless them. I went home and wore a cast for months. It was three full YEARS before I could open a new jar by myself and five years before I could reach between my shoulder blades! I do NOT want to ever go through that again! As an aside, it was a lucky break in more ways than one; that’s how I found out I have severe osteoporosis and started treatment, age 55.)

THIS winter, I am compulsive about snow removal. I clear the whole driveway AND a six-foot swath of the street along and beyond both ends of the pavement. In my defense, there IS method to my madness. Early shoveling prevents frozen tire tracks and, later, snowmelt on the pavement.

Another spring of 2014 scene, with lots of tire tracks and snow melt to cause trouble later.

Shoveling fresh snow is easy on a paved driveway. BUT, once the snow is driven over, the tire tracks freeze and prevent smooth shoveling. Last year I got sore shoulders, bruised ribs, and semi-permanent “tennis elbow” from shoveling obstructions, because it snowed so much I could not always clear the driveway before cars came or went. And those darn frozen tracks take forever to melt off.

Clearing the street reminds the snowplow drivers to NOT drop a big berm at the power pole, thereby compromising our off-street guest parking. There is also a tall tree stump on the other (street) corner of the driveway, which I use for navigation purposes. Snowplow drivers like to protect it with a berm, too, grrr.

I don’t know if YOU have to shovel snow, too, but snowplow berms consolidate and become like concrete if they are not dug up and moved immediately. Later, they can only be removed by melting, which happens sporadically over a LONG period of time. Berms provide a LOT of ice on Dad’s driveway and provide me much excuse to practice cursing.

Last year, I did a LOT of shoveling. I missed many errand days and tai chi days, which frustrated me no end. I was sore much of the time. However, shoveling is great outdoor exercise, and a wonderful way to catch up with the neighbors as they walk their dogs. So, if the snow was not conflicting with my driving schedule, I actually came to enjoy it—sometimes.

Two days after Mothers’ Day snow, the snow is cleared off driveway and melting off roof, but I still need to clear car.

Shoveling also was another blessing in disguise; all that upper-body exercise gave me the strength to care for Dad at home as his strength waned. He is deadweight now, but I can still transfer him between bed, wheelchairs, and sofa.

This year, the weather is MUCH better! We have had fewer snowstorms, which seldom conflict with my travel schedule, and have had less snow during each storm. I’m not spending much time shoveling this year, so I am enjoying it most of the time.

Today I shoveled about two inches of snow twice, hoping to clear the driveway before going to Boulder for tonight’s first astrology class. I had to miss the class anyway. Snow fell all day and into the evening, and I knew the Canyon road would be too slimy for my taste. I have Dad’s all-wheel-drive Subaru with new snow tires. The CAR would be fine, but my nerves would be fried. And driving home so late at night is never pleasant for me, in the best of conditions.  Oh well, sigh.