Neighbor of the Year

It's winter in Kansas.  Snow has blown into deep drifts.  

My driveway is covered and husband is out of town.  

This was the middle of the day.

Can't see the driveway. It snowed even more overnight.

 I was determined to get the car out because I had places to go. 
 I spent hours shoveling the driveway up near the house.

 It was about 9 degrees with a windchill of -5.  

I shoveled down to the clear area, my turn around spot.  

By this time, the water vapor in my breath was freezing on my glasses. 

 My nose hairs were frozen too.

The next day I spent hours going the rest of the way down the driveway, making double tracks for the wheels, and shoveling the center down so the car could get through.

I couldn't even see WHERE the driveway was. 

 I'm sure I went onto the grass.

 If you are very observant, you probably noticed the tire tracks in my shoveled snow.  Yes, I took these photos after I managed to get out and run some errands.

Not sure where Rod will put his car when he returns!

I might have to shovel it all again.

 At least it is getting brighter outside!

This was about a third of the way down the drive.

 I noticed that my neighbor had gotten out his snow blower.  He ran it for a little while, going up and down his driveway.  He seemed to be having trouble keeping it running.  I also saw that his snow was not very deep since his driveway was protected by a treeline.

I finally made it down to where our driveways run together.  Dave was there, blowing his snow into the air.  I am sure he had seen me shoveling for a good hour.  We made small talk and he complained that his snow blower shut off frequently. 

( Well, at least you HAVE one, Dave.)

I mentioned that I had a doctor's appointment, and really needed to get out.  It was still about 8 degrees and I still had a long way to go, all the way back to the house and back down the center.

I was hoping he might feel sorry for me when he turned and headed about two feet toward my driveway. But alas, the blower quit at that moment and he shrugged as he turned it back toward his house.  

"You know," he said, " with the way this thing quits every five minutes, it would probably be easier to just use the shovel.  Well, good luck!!"

And he started back down his driveway, blowing snow everywhere. 

I swear I could have crawled on my hands and knees and scraped it with a butter knife with the same results.

It was literally 2 inches deep.

You can't even see where it went!

Let's compare his exhausting effort to clear 2 inches with a snow blower to my effort...

Two days of shoveling. 

I can't even say what I really think...

Sorry, not getting my vote this year, Dave.