{"id":27554,"date":"2024-02-16T05:00:38","date_gmt":"2024-02-16T10:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/?p=27554"},"modified":"2024-02-15T16:26:26","modified_gmt":"2024-02-15T21:26:26","slug":"zen-and-the-art-of-snow-removal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/16\/zen-and-the-art-of-snow-removal\/","title":{"rendered":"Zen and the Art of Snow Removal"},"content":{"rendered":"

In New England choosing a snow removal method is kind of like choosing a religion.\u00a0 There\u2019s the mainstream snowblower sect.\u00a0 Then there are those plow guys both the ones that mount it to their family truck and the ones who buy those ATV looking vehicles that zip around after major snowstorms cleaning off people\u2019s driveways.\u00a0 They\u2019re probably pagans or something.\u00a0 Then there are the hardliners who own a tractor to which they can attach plows, blowers, even trailers in which the snow can be collected.\u00a0 These guys are ready for the apocalypse.\u00a0 And finally, there are the fundamentalists; the shovel guys.\u00a0 To them moving the snow is the punishment we all deserve.<\/p>\n

A week ago, I was walking in the haunted forests and swamps of Dunwich and observing the first little buds and leaves opening up on all the thorn bushes, briars and poison ivy vines.\u00a0 But now there\u2019s eight inches of snow out there again!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And so, I spent Tuesday and today on snow removal.\u00a0 I skipped Wednesday because, dammit I\u2019m an American.\u00a0 My weapons were the snowblower, the snow shovel and the ice scraping shovel (technically it\u2019s a roofing shovel used to scrape the shingles off a roof, but it\u2019s really good for smashing and scraping ice off a driveway).\u00a0 And I got all of the top driveway done and the lower driveway so-so.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s just in time for tonight\u2019s predicted one to four inches of new snow.\u00a0 Now what kind of prediction is 1-4 inches?\u00a0 When the maximum is 400% of the minimum it shouldn\u2019t be called a prediction.\u00a0 Clueless guess is probably closer to the truth.\u00a0 But the last five hours of snow removal has brought me back to the zen-like state that eventually sets in near the end of a New England winter.\u00a0 And this is even true during extremely mild winters as we\u2019ve had the last three or four years.\u00a0 Because an inch of ice can cause more grief and work than two feet of dry snow.\u00a0 In the zen state you abandon the idea of gritting your teeth and pushing through until spring.\u00a0 It\u2019s too long.\u00a0 There are still seven weeks until snow is unlikely.\u00a0 So, you must embrace the crappy weather and become one with it.<\/p>\n

And so there I was, lavishing loving attention on asphalt that needed the snow coaxed off of it with a light, almost delicate touch to the shovel at just the perfect angle to get it to peel off the pavement.\u00a0 I experienced ineffable contentment as I worked down the driveway six inches at a time.\u00a0 I had become a snow clearing zombie.\u00a0 And I loved Big Brother.<\/p>\n

As you can tell I\u2019m suffering from the last stages of cabin fever and I\u2019m contemplating warning Camera Girl to abandon the Compound until spring when hopefully I\u2019ll regain my sanity.\u00a0 She knows my weaknesses and it\u2019s just too reminiscent of Jack Nicholson\u2019s portrayal of Jack Torrance in the movie version of \u201cThe Shining.\u201d\u00a0 If I do go berserk, I won\u2019t use the weapons that Jack Torrance took up (a fire axe in the movie and a roque mallet in the book).\u00a0 I will instead embrace my most formidable weapon, bad puns.\u00a0 The poor woman.<\/p>\n

Anyway, I\u2019m enjoying the posting of my novel fragment.\u00a0 It\u2019s cathartic to put it out in the real world and get feedback.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been trying to figure out a strategy to get it in the public eye.\u00a0 I\u2019m thinking about putting it on a crowd-funding site to see how much visibility that would give it.\u00a0 If anyone knows which sites are best for our side of the political spectrum, please chime in.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In New England choosing a snow removal method is kind of like choosing a religion.\u00a0 There\u2019s the mainstream snowblower sect.\u00a0 Then there are those plow<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,3366,1289,818,1263],"tags":[340,114,113],"class_list":["post-27554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-events","category-life-in-dunwich","category-fiction-by-me","category-ocf","category-stuff-that-personally-interests-me-miscellaneous","tag-new-england-winter","tag-snow","tag-winter"],"yoast_head":"\nZen and the Art of Snow Removal - Orion's Cold Fire<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/16\/zen-and-the-art-of-snow-removal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Zen and the Art of Snow Removal - Orion's Cold Fire\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In New England choosing a snow removal method is kind of like choosing a religion.\u00a0 There\u2019s the mainstream snowblower sect.\u00a0 Then there are those plow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/16\/zen-and-the-art-of-snow-removal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Orion's Cold Fire\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-02-16T10:00:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-02-15T21:26:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/DSC02576-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"photog\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@orionscoldfire\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@orionscoldfire\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"photog\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/16\/zen-and-the-art-of-snow-removal\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/16\/zen-and-the-art-of-snow-removal\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"photog\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d11e80f83f3825ce9fe38a5303eb64d3\"},\"headline\":\"Zen and the Art of Snow Removal\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-02-16T10:00:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-02-15T21:26:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/16\/zen-and-the-art-of-snow-removal\/\"},\"wordCount\":637,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"New England Winter\",\"snow\",\"winter\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Current Events\",\"Life in Dunwich\",\"My Fiction\",\"OCF\",\"photog's Corner\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/16\/zen-and-the-art-of-snow-removal\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/16\/zen-and-the-art-of-snow-removal\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/16\/zen-and-the-art-of-snow-removal\/\",\"name\":\"Zen and the Art of Snow Removal - Orion's Cold Fire\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-02-16T10:00:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-02-15T21:26:26+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/16\/zen-and-the-art-of-snow-removal\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/16\/zen-and-the-art-of-snow-removal\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/16\/zen-and-the-art-of-snow-removal\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Zen and the Art of Snow Removal\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/\",\"name\":\"Orion's Cold Fire\",\"description\":\"All the Secrets of the Universe and Some Really Important Stuff Too!\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Orion's Cold Fire\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/DSC06141.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/DSC06141.jpg\",\"width\":4022,\"height\":1419,\"caption\":\"Orion's Cold Fire\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/orionscoldfire\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d11e80f83f3825ce9fe38a5303eb64d3\",\"name\":\"photog\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/photog-image.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/photog-image.jpg\",\"caption\":\"photog\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/author\/photog\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Zen and the Art of Snow Removal - Orion's Cold Fire","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/16\/zen-and-the-art-of-snow-removal\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Zen and the Art of Snow Removal - Orion's Cold Fire","og_description":"In New England choosing a snow removal method is kind of like choosing a religion.\u00a0 There\u2019s the mainstream snowblower sect.\u00a0 Then there are those plow","og_url":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/16\/zen-and-the-art-of-snow-removal\/","og_site_name":"Orion's Cold Fire","article_published_time":"2024-02-16T10:00:38+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-02-15T21:26:26+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/DSC02576-scaled.jpg"}],"author":"photog","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@orionscoldfire","twitter_site":"@orionscoldfire","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"photog","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/16\/zen-and-the-art-of-snow-removal\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/16\/zen-and-the-art-of-snow-removal\/"},"author":{"name":"photog","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d11e80f83f3825ce9fe38a5303eb64d3"},"headline":"Zen and the Art of Snow Removal","datePublished":"2024-02-16T10:00:38+00:00","dateModified":"2024-02-15T21:26:26+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/16\/zen-and-the-art-of-snow-removal\/"},"wordCount":637,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#organization"},"keywords":["New England Winter","snow","winter"],"articleSection":["Current Events","Life in Dunwich","My Fiction","OCF","photog's Corner"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/16\/zen-and-the-art-of-snow-removal\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/16\/zen-and-the-art-of-snow-removal\/","url":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/16\/zen-and-the-art-of-snow-removal\/","name":"Zen and the Art of Snow Removal - Orion's Cold Fire","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2024-02-16T10:00:38+00:00","dateModified":"2024-02-15T21:26:26+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/16\/zen-and-the-art-of-snow-removal\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/16\/zen-and-the-art-of-snow-removal\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/16\/zen-and-the-art-of-snow-removal\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Zen and the Art of Snow Removal"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/","name":"Orion's Cold Fire","description":"All the Secrets of the Universe and Some Really Important Stuff Too!","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#organization","name":"Orion's Cold Fire","url":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/DSC06141.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/DSC06141.jpg","width":4022,"height":1419,"caption":"Orion's Cold Fire"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/orionscoldfire"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d11e80f83f3825ce9fe38a5303eb64d3","name":"photog","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/photog-image.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/photog-image.jpg","caption":"photog"},"url":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/author\/photog\/"}]}},"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27554","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27554"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27554\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27555,"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27554\/revisions\/27555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}