What do you do at Christmas time, when all the world is white?

Waking up in a Blanket of Snow!
Early Christmas morning is awoke and the world was buried in white. Oddly, Winter's morning darkness lost its battle to the snow's bright reflection.   The early glow beamed through my window and pestered me enough to terminate my sleep.

Bounding into my room, my mother informed me my little brother needed to go the work and was currently plowing the drive.  I crept out of bed to assist in the chilly task.

After bundling up sufficient for a laborious activity, I slipped out of the house and grabbed a shovel.  At the bottom of the drive my brother was working hard to remove the drift resulting from the city plow passing in the night.  I invoked my elder brother rights to the snowblower and worked quickly to clear a path for his departure.

Sweat dripping from our brows, we had cleared the drive of this hefty snow and with enough time for him to arrive at work.  Admiring our work I noticed how many individuals were still shoveling in the neighborhood.  This was a little disheartening knowing most of the neighbors are not as young as the Richins boys and would require me to "donate" my talents for the goodwill.  Wishing I did not feel the weight of obligation I proceeded to work on neighbors drives.

Completing two of our neighbors drives I started to attach the most difficult drive in our neighborhood.  The steep angle of the drive and the slippery aggregate surface make the clearing process "interesting."  Exhausted, my first task was to clear the drift at the end of the drive.  For some reason this drift was more difficult than the others and took more than twice the time to finish. The dense snowfall and magnitude of snow led to the snowblowers inability to perform well.  I was forced to make a two step process of lifting and throwing the heavy into the yard.  This work initially, but higher drifts formed at the limits of my throwing range.  I ended up creating newer drifts that were higher and more dense than initially.

Coming to this realization, I wound up and punted the drift in the most frustrating manner.  I arrived at a euphoria; I could release my emotional tension and make the snow manageable for the snowblower at the same time.  With out hesitation, I proceeded to practice my soccer kicks as neighbors peered out there windows to a seemingly frenzied young man.   Little did they know this appearance of rage filled fit was really a discovery on efficiency.

Finishing the drift, I anticipated a returning to the warmth of the house.  Only the small and easier portion of the drive remained.  Since the homeowner started this section earlier I thought this would be quick.  What I found absolutely astonished me.  The method our neighbor implemented in plowing is best described as random.  Instead of starting at one end of the drive and clearing to the other end, he decided to plow wherever his heart desired.  I appreciated the assistance, but his support was more moral versus physical.  Basically, I had to do the drive again from top to bottom.  I quickly finished this and was glad to return to a warm house where I was able to reflect on the Christmas season and the wonderful relations I have.

Random Thought:
There is a certain amount of freedom that comes from doing what you want, when you want, and how you want.  In my neighbors reality, he could have been enjoying the beauty of the snowy environment as he randomly cleared his drive.  For me this method would be incredibly frustrating to use.  I would feel great in the short term, but eventually I would come to the realization that I am doing a lot of work without making progress. 

I liken this to deciding which letters you want to recognize when trying to read a page.  It can be nice at times to recognize the beauty of the individual letters or even the appearance of a compilation of letters.  That can sustain someone and they can be content with that experience.  Lacking in their experience is the intended communication from the author.  This is something I am trying to improve in my life.  I want to make sure that my eye are open to see and understand the world in the manner God intends for me.

For good measure, I thought I would post some pictures to show you how crazy people can be in Minnesota winters.  Well, at least how crazy I can be by going out in shorts to move a car off the street.