Zen and the Art of Snow Removal

I haven't made it to the gym for the past two days, courtesy of Mother Nature and Nor'easter Pax. But I'll count hours of snow shoveling as a combo cardio, strength and endurance workout. Because we still have snow from the last two storms, Maximus and Nika, I couldn't just shovel willy-nilly and let the snow fall where it may. No, paths through the snow to the car, the dog poop bucket and oil fill line had to be reconstructed. The walkway snow is now piled higher than the Weber coal grills on the lawn. The snow is waist-high in most places, drifts are higher and deeper.

The driveway presents it's own logistical problems. Hedges and shrubs impede rapid snow removal. I resort to carrying shovels of snow back down the walkway in order to heave the load past the bird feeders. Eventually the snow there towers over the small tarped woodpile and I look for another place to deposit the burden. My son and I discuss the differences between catapults and trebuchets. My son informs me trebuchets require string or rope. Apparently I'm catapulting my snow as I fling it over my shoulder, hoping to crest the peak of our driveway mounds.

When we're done, I realize that our road has yet to be plowed. It's a tertiary, last on the priority list. We drive down to the secondary road which is pristine blacktop. It's too late to get to the gym since child care is only available until 1 pm, so we go to the library, then have lunch, and then, since it's Valentine's Day, drive down the road to get a half dozen Valentine donuts. Just because. 

Estimates vary widely but snow shoveling appears to burn as much as 10 calories a minute. Using an online calculator, I get a calorie burn of only 303 for 1 hour work. So that's about 900+ calories for 3 hours yesterday. (And again this morning.) No wonder I woke up hungry last night.

I'm planning to go back to lifting weights next week. If I can get to the gym. Otherwise shoveling seems to be adequate exercise. Happy Valentine's Day.