There is no love lost in leaving behind New York State winters with the cold, harsh, long—very long—depressing days that can begin as early as October and end as late as May. Despite the distance from those lake effect snows, Philadelphia has had more snow than Buffalo and Syracuse, New York. With a record breaking 72.1 inches of snow this season, the first blizzard of 2010 hit on the fifth of February dumping 28.5 inches on the region. The latest blizzard brought freezing rain, sleet and another 15.8 inches of snow with 35 mph winds and thunder snow.
Philadelphia is still cleaning up after two major blizzards with another storm on the way. Is there a possibility that Buffalo, New York could be jealous?
Nah!
Do you know what bothers me most of all?
I have yet to go sledding.
First, I have no sledding partner nearby.
Second, I don’t own a sled.
Third, I haven’t gone sledding in about 20 years.
There is my other favorite pastime that, unfortunately, has lost its glitter. Shoveling is an understatement for the amount of work I’ve done digging out my driveway. No, I don’t own a snow blower. I love shoveling snow. But this year, my love has been lost.
Even I thought I was nuts after digging out my driveway for the fourth time this season, and that was before the last blizzard began. The usual amount of snow shoveling I do for the season? Zero to one.
It’s usually zero.
I have shoveled, shoveled, and shoveled my driveway, giving myself the much needed work-out or so I tell myself. I fed the lonely robin that appeared to me in the first storm—cold, hungry and continuously staring at me—as I crazily shoveled in blowing wind and flying snow. I wasn’t too certain who thought who was more nuts—me or the bird. I fed it blueberries, cranberries, rice and bread, offering it up in a bowl set-up in the branches of the bushes.
The robin went right over and began feasting. It didn’t fly away when I got extremely close to take pictures, sometimes looking at me dead on.
The following day with the blizzard gone, the robin visited me while I shoveled more, flying down and landing under the car, while I scooped the fluff of white into a mound. Once again, the robin watched me. It was the only bird that seemed to personally thank me for the food I gave.
I guess I should have visited home and missed the whole mess, but then I would have missed feeding the robin, getting the great shots, and getting my work-out, too. Although my love has been lost, maybe I can find it again. Despite the harshness of the weather, I made a feathered friend, igniting my spark to share tales of blizzards, birds, and what it brings to us and out of us to share, jealousy and all.