I grew up in eastern Colorado and did my undergraduate education at the University of Northern Colorado.  In all the years of growing up physically, I always had one thing in my hand when it came to white stuff falling from the sky.  It was a shovel.  My grandma Gorton lived next door so when the snow came, I would get out and shovel our walks and patio as well as shoveling all the way over to my grandmas house and shovel her walks in the process.  I was young so it was no big deal to shovel over 100 yards of concrete every time it snowed.  Sometimes it was harder than others if the snow was wet or measured over a foot.

Sometimes it would pack in so tight that I would have to cut a block of snow in increments of a cubic yard to remove it from the concrete.  Never in my growing up years did I ever think of removing snow other than with a shovel.

I left Colorado in 1972 after graduating from college and moved all over the country.  Texas.  Tennessee.  Florida.  Massachusetts.  Beirut, Lebanon.  Arizona.  46 years gone.

This last fall, we moved back to Colorado.  Back to my roots.  Back to 4 seasons.  Back to snow.  But this time I decided based upon my age to invest in a new invention (for me) that would take care of the snow when it falls.  A snow-blower.

It is the most awesome invention I have ever experienced.  In fact I have used the snow-blower three times and have not only cleaned off my driveway, but I have cleaned off the next door neighbor to the left of us, cleaned the sidewalks down the street for 4 other houses, and have snow-blowed the elderly gentleman who lost his wife a year ago across the street.  I am doing every thing I did as a child, but with much less effort and much more fun.

On this journey, there will be times when we have the opportunity to bring joy to others by doing something as little as moving snow.  It might just bring you joy as you do for others.