Is That Spring I Smell in the Air?

And then, in the midst of winter, we had a few days that were milder. We seized part of the one afternoon to go sledding, after running errands in town. And on this day, when temperatures approached 60 degrees F, causing the delusional optimism that sometimes accompanies such a turn, what did we do? Did we go hiking? Backpacking?

Nope! None of those! We stayed home and worked on getting the ice off our driveway in the afternoon. This is a thing they do not tell you about adulthood: that you will spend entire winter afternoons participating in The Battle of the Driveway.

Our 100-foot driveway has been a treacherous sheet of ice since that big ice storm about a week ago. Yes, it was gorgeous to look at but it was hard to walk on it! On this day, the ice sheet finally started to melt. By the end of the afternoon, we'd gotten about 75% of the ice off the driveway, with both of us working at it. (Yes, odds are good that we will end up in traction from the ice, from either falling on it or arranging its removal!)

So these are our winter hobbies: On the warmer days, we get out the shovels and whack and remove ice, several tons of it at a time. On indoor days, we move stuff around from one end of the house to the other and call it progress.

But in the morning, before we attacked the driveway with all of our strength, it was sunny and lovely and LGK the neighbor kitty was here. And we sat and read our books in the sun and enjoyed our time together. In this photo, LGK seemed to be asking: Is that spring I smell in the air?

Well, the driveway is finally clear now, so it might as well be!

Our soundtrack song for a springlike day is this one: Jeanne Crain, with It Might as Well Be Spring, from the musical State Fair.