Spring has arrived, more or less, but winter is like an athlete who should have retired long ago but refuses to. So even though it has been above zero for a few days now, today it snowed and snowed. Which would be fine if it hadn't also rained and rained earlier. So now there is 4 inches of poosnow (an Ancient Inuit Term for the type of sludgey snow we have right now) everywhere. Makes the roads hazardous. Anyways, last week I went and visited this old fellow who lives near campus. He is always out doing yard work, for the five years that I have lived in this area he has been a fixture, and a cheerful fixture at that, always talking to the passing students, offering them a smile or a laugh, or even, on occasion, a box of chocolates. I always thought he loved his yard work as he got to be outside to talk to his students. But lately he has been complaining about it a bit- he's 91 years old so I don't blame him. He's the oldest person I have ever known. So I went over there last week and he invited me in and we talked for like two hours, he gave me more cookies than I really wanted, and I offered to shovel his walk for him from now on. He was thrilled. So tonight after church I went over there and began shovelling the heavy poosnow. And when it's wet like this it's very heavy. Before long he was out there, happy to see me. He gave me advice on how to propely shovel snow (his methods necessarily bypass any heavy lifting, but I am young and strong so I just scoop and toss) and then said he would get out of my way, he actually even fired himself (twice) and then spent the next hour outside with me helping me out, though I made sure that I did all the hard parts. He has a huge sidewalk and driveway, and he also tries to keep the sides of his house snow free so that it won't melt and seep into his driveway. Anyways, it took a lot longer than I anticipated, but we got it done, for now. It was a good workout. Then he invited me in and made me tea. He told me more stories, like the time he served Prince Phillip in Yellowknife. The Prince is apparently a generous tipper. And he has a little TV that he watches- he told me about the show on Wednesday nights that comes on at 1AM which features scantily clad women frolicking by palm trees. I'm guessing he means an infomercial for a chatline or something. He's 91 and spry, like an imp, and he is a pleasure to hang out with. My new friend.
Go and read Scotty Superhero's article on his own nonagenarian friend, his Gramma, who sadly passed way this week.