This morning I noticed my neighbor and his two boys sweeping their driveway to clear the snow from it so maybe they could escape. They were about 80% done when I informed them I had a leaf blower that would probably be much more effective. It took me less than five minutes to finish off his driveway. I felt a little guilty that I hadn’t noticed them working out there earlier. It was also a little strange to be the guy that actually had the proper equipment to do the job. I guess even the least handy and allergic to power tools guy finds a bone now and then.

I then proceeded to take care of my own drive. It probably took me about 40 minutes to get it done so I can only imagine how long the neighbors had been out there. Unfortunately 40 minutes holding a vibrating power tool and the vicious wind we had made my hands and fingers quite cold. It wasn’t until I was done (or had gotten too cold) that I knew how bad it was. My fingers felt like the tips were on fire.  I have broken my hand twice, dislocated my elbow, broke bones in my feet, tore my PCL and a variety of other wonderfully painful things. But the minutes it took for my fingers to quit burning were as painful as any thing I had experienced prior.

As of now the tips of my fingers are still sore but I did get to leave my borrowed parking spot in the church parking lot. When I parked next to the Caddy though I discovered that damn mockingbird had left its mark on the spouse’s vehicle. You can only imagine the disappointment I felt when I found out “To Kill a Mockingbird” wasn’t a how to manual.