A dilemma for the meteorologically minded. We have 10 cm (4") of snow on the ground, to be followed by freezing rain this aft to be followed by rain rain this evening- quite a lot of it, in fact. Now good citizen me, mindful of my civic obligations and of the poor naked wretches, wheresoe'er they are, that bide the pelting of this pitiless storm on their way to work, school and the local supermarkets, would ordinarily don the many layers of the winter onion and go out to shovel-- my walk and my brother's walk because he won't and sometimes my brother's neighbour's walk because my b's n. will shovel my brother's walk if he's out early enough and one must return the courtesy periodically and my brother won't. Truly, the balance of neighbourly favours is quite as complex in Toronto as it is in Tokyo. But it's a Sunday so the snow won't be trampled flat before the ice descends to make it slippery and the rain descends to make it slippier, before, we hope with foolish optimism, melting it all away; so maybe it would be a *bad* idea to go out and shovel and salt and all that? And I should stay in here all cozy? with nothing I want to read because Rotenberg is mad and Pratchett is Pratchett and Pa Chin is depressing and Yuki Kaori-- we won't talk about Yuki Kaori.
I admit, my motive in shovelling is usually to make it easier for *me* to get around, at least for the space of three house fronts. Tomorrow morning will be disgusting whichever way it goes; and if MEC had delivered my snow crampons that give boots traction I might be more lackadaisical. I suppose I must, as they say, monitor the situation. And think how many calories get burned off shovelling snow.
