We got our first snowfall yesterday. Well, not literally the first one of the season, as there've been a couple extremely light dustings. And it's not right to call it the first significant snowfall, since it came in at about an inch or so, which is really only significant if you've never seen snow before and aren't sure why suddenly everybody has no idea how to drive. But it was the first snow heavy enough to require cleaning off the cars and shoveling the driveway instead of just leaving it to go away once it's considered what it's done.
That isn't to say it was significant enough to pull out the snowblower; this was light enough that it was easier to just take the shovel and push the snow off to the side. And being the first snow of the season that meant it's still fun to do, and one where you feel charitable and open-minded enough to go shoveling the neighbor's sidewalk too, and to make neat channels the whole width of the sidewalk block, and to get all the snow off the front porch and the whole walkway up to it. That isn't going to last, but early on, you can. Or you want to.
What isn't clear to me --- since the roads were ploughed by the time we got out and started shoveling --- is whether this has shaken off the ``oh, no, we haven't been snowed on in the past seven months, how can we possibly drive? Maybe if we barrel around like idiots that'll be fine!'' problem that drivers have for the first snow of the year. It'd be nice if they have got their yearly immunizations done, but it might take a more substantial storm before everyone remembers that oh, yeah, winter is kind of like every winter of their lives before now.
Trivia: Brewster's Millions was originally published as a hit novel by George Barr McCuthechon, in 1902. In it, Monty Brewster has twelve months to squander one million dollars in order to earn seven million dollars. Source: The Kid Of Coney Island: Fred Thompson And The Rise Of American Amusements, Woody Register.
Currently Reading: Paving the way for Apollo 11, David M Harland.
PS: Keep The Change, following up on the question about change earlier this week, or mostly admitting that someone else did a better job than I did at it.