Friday, January 8, 2010

R....aisin Bran Morning

"Wake up, honey; it's a Raisin Bran Morning!" I groan; not because I've been wakened from a sound sleep, not because it's 5:45 am, not even because I can hear the north wind howling, but because "Raisin Bran" is a code, a code that means, "We've had so much snow that to get down to pavement, you will need to take at least 'two scoops' with the shovel!"

So I grudgingly force myself to leave the soft, warm comforter and splash my face with cold water to prepare myself for the first task of the day...getting dressed. Complete with long underwear, heavy socks, heavy jeans and sweatshirt, I waddle down the stairs, a la The Michelin Man. There I add boots, an extra heavy jacket, my warmest hat (the one that makes me look like a character out of the pages of a Dr. Seuss book), tie a scarf around it and my neck, and pull on my warmest mittens. All set! Oops, you guessed it; I have to go to the bathroom! So almost everything has to come off and then be re donned for the occasion.

Now it's dawn and out I go with my handy, dandy shovel to do my part of the daunting task: the front porch and walk. Meanwhile, my dear husband, who was responsible for reveille this morning, is already hard at work on the back porch with his shovel, and then the long driveway with his snowblower. About an hour later, we're both back in the house ready for a huge breakfast and a nap. That's right, our "two scoop" morning, has turned into a two nap day! Isn't retirement in Wisconsin wonderful?

10 comments:

Memories for Life said...

So great that you work together to get it done :)
I'm glad we have a tractor though...so I don't have to help...LOL!

Linda E. Pruitt said...

I actually miss this life! We are so sedentary, that we need the exercise! And I love the snow! Call me crazy!

Splendid Little Stars said...

LOL! I can't imagine anything more awful than waking up so early, putting on an enormous amount of restrictive clothing, and going out into the freezing cold. (Actually, I CAN imagine worse, but don't want to.) Once out there, it might be fun in an exercisey kind of way.
Happy Winter to you!

Joy said...

Awww! That's a great story... Sorry that you had to shovel all that snow!

BeadedTail said...

It's great that you work together to get all that snow shoveled! I don't think anyone could get me up at 5:45am to shovel snow though.

Kathleen said...

brrrr! Whoa! That's a lot of snow! yeah, I would have had to make a pit stop after all of that exercise, too. Not to mention after I really got outside...

Okay, Linda - you're crazy. You can have my snow. All of it! every last flake! Well, at least all the flakes that hit the ground. The ones in the air are pretty =p

AWJ said...

Terrific story (though I don't envy your shoveling!)! I love how you call it a Raisin Bran morning, hee.

storybeader said...

wonderful post, patti! Beautiful scene - I'm just glad I didn't have to do it. Great exercise for a good cause! {:-D

Reflections Magazine editor said...

Gosh some are complaining that it is too cold in South Florida...if the temps go down anymore here it will snow....we have freezing rain at the moment....no snow here since 1977. I do admire you though...that's a lot of snow and a lot shoveling...brave...very brave...

Anitra Cameron said...

Great story, and beautiful photo, and I'm glad it's you and not me!