Groundhog Day!

Punxsutawney Phil, they call him and a tradition that goes all the way back to 1886. I heard today that Phil came out and saw his shadow ... you know what that means, 6 more weeks of winter. I am not all worried about this snow as much as I used to.

In the past, I always contracted out snow cleaning to some one and used to hate it when it's time to drive out in a foot of snow from the uncleaned drive way when he still didn't make his rounds in the neighborhood. I have a German rear wheel drive car and oh I hated to drive it in the winters. So, as much as the Groundhog Day is a tradition, I used to hate it when ever the weatherman stood in front of his map and talk about Phil. How nice for him, he gets all the attention from his useless weather reports from latest equipment, he also has to resort to Phil.

Not this year... Yes, I bought a real lean mean blowing machine (sounds kinky?) - so the first time it snowed this season, I was out there waiting for it. Second time I was glad it snowed so went out and cleaned my driveway and helped the neighbor with his walkway. Third time, driving back from work I was hoping that there wouldn't be a whole lot of accumulation for me to clean but came home and cleaned anyway. Fourth time, I almost slipped with it and somehow managed to clean the rest. Fifth time, right in the middle of cleaning I ran out of gas and the rest of it I had to shovel. I think the newness wore out and I am not looking forward to a whole lot of cleaning in the middle of a wintery mix and gusting of cold wind. Well, my thinking was that I will break even the first year after using it a dozen times. Now I feel I can live with out using it another half dozen times for the sake of my satisfaction.

Cleaning after cleaning with this snow reminds you of Groundhog Day movie isn't it? Yup déjà vu all over again when I say this, Happy Groundhog Day! :)