January 19, 2018 - The cost of my laziness

        These lazy bones didn’t want to budge Wednesday morning after it starting snowing late Tuesday night and was still snowing when I woke up to almost 3 inches of snow. I just wanted to snuggle in all day. I did just that and peered out the window every so often to check the status of the storm. [When it finally stopped snowing it was between 6 to 8 inches depending on the drifts.] What I should have done, what I have always done, is go out and sweep or shovel off the steps and sidewalks every so often before anyone [including the dog] walks on it.  And, as the storm progresses, I sweep or shovel again to keep ahead of it. 

But, being warm and cuddled up with a project and a hot cup of tea I turned into a lazy bones this past Wednesday.

        It didn’t take long to realize what a fool I was for being lazy and not the proactive, old-fashioned Yankee who knows you must keep up with the snow or it has the tendency of jumping up and biting you in the butt.

It did just that.  I got my come-uppance late Wednesday evening when it was my turn to take the dog out for his ‘business’ and I encountered snow trampled down on the stoop, stairs, and the sidewalks.  Wet, trampled snow, now frozen due to the plunging night temperatures were more than slippery, they were treacherous. 

When my dogs feet started to slip out from under him and he sat down suddenly, I realized I’d made the ultimate mistake of not taking care of the business of a well-run life due completely to my laziness.

The fear of slipping and falling and breaking an arm or hip hung heavy on me as I managed to get my dog and myself back into the house safely.

My Dad had a saying for this – you’ll recognize the proverb:

“You’ve made your bed, now lie in it.”

        Trying to fall asleep, I realized that it had been a long time since I had created my own problem. I thought about other people I had met on this life’s highway and noted a few people I had met that didn’t have the common sense to realize they had created most of their own personal problems.  Yes, I was raised responsibly and my life would turn out in direct relation to my actions.

        Some of you are wondering – where is your husband in all of this snow shoveling?  Well, he has had a bad back for our entire marriage and I have been the main snow shoveler so that he isn’t laid up in pain for days. He did as much as he could do and I simply was hunkered down in my project and wasn’t paying attention that what he did was not enough for our snow situation.

        Then, others of you might say – you’re in the South – what are you talking about?  It doesn’t really SNOW down in the Carolinas.  Well, you are right and wrong at the same time.

        Normally, when it snows less than six inches it is usually gone by late afternoon.  Or, in the case where we have a good heavy snow one day, two days later it is melted and gone.  Well, this storm, started late Tuesday night and school was cancelled for Wednesday.  Thursday the roads were still frozen and school closed.  Friday the roads were still frozen and schools closed.  It is now Friday and the snow is still with us.  We were out before 9:00 a.m. this  morning and there are still extensive patches on shady back roads that are sending drivers skidding into ditches.

        So, lazy bones, me, got out mid-morning on Thursday and cleaned off my car and chipped off the trampled down frozen snow on the front and back steps and the sidewalk. Darn, what hard work and I won’t be forgetting it too soon.  Of course, I wrenched my back a little and just about froze my gloved fingers.  A heck of a lot more work than it needed to be. If I had just gotten off my lazy bones and done it when I should have it would have been three times easier.

        Yes, Dad, I’ve re-learned the lesson the hard way.  Now shovels and snow gear will be poised and waiting at the ready the next notice of snow in the Carolinas.