I moved to Washington State when I was in ninth grade. It was quite the shock when school was canceled due to 3" of snow on the ground. We had just moved from Colorado where walking to school in 2 feet of snow was not uncommon. These Washingtonians seemed quite wimpy.
As I learned to drive I realized that Washington used concrete "turtles" and smaller "cookies" to demarcate the lanes and turn lanes. They did not have snow plows and if they did those turtles and cookies would be scraped off the ground.
I recall a few years ago working on the superintendent of school buses and he told me that he went out at 5:00 am and tried to drive the steepest road. If he could not make it up he would cancel school. Washington state has some very steep and windy roads. We rival the streets of San Francisco.
Now I live in Port Angeles, Washington nestled between Hurricane Ridge of the Olympic Mountains and the Strait of Juan de Fuca on the Salish Sea. It is stunning how beautiful it is. We were just hit with about 2 feet of snow overnight. which is beautiful and so quiet. I was happy that my employer told all of the home health service providers to stay home and not attempt to see anyone. Having a few snow days turns us all into kids. I finally went out today but only saw 2 of my 8 scheduled patients due to all of the ice and sliding around. I am happy to report my car is safe and I was able to stay on my feet despite walking on some very treacherous icy patches.
My dog Kiska carved herself a lovely path in the back yard to her favorite place under the tall cedar trees. I sat down to write this blog but realized the only way I was going to get her inside out of the snow was to make her dinner. So the blog had to wait.
My husband is a fabulous man. He is so good at equally sharing the work load at the house. When I went out to go to work before the huge dump, I came out to a shoveled walk and a brushed off car. Today he went out in the 2 feet of snow following Kiska the snow plow to take out the recycling and garbage. I am very blessed.
Snow is a fabulous strengthortunity. Shoveling snow, walking through snow, and playing in the snow all provides an opportunity to build strength, a strengthortunity, if you will. The only caution I want to express is to be careful to build slowly and gradually. When you have not done anything similar to shoveling snow and then spend hours out there you can overuse your heart and cause a heart attack or overuse your muscles and cause a tendinitis. Be smart and start slow and build gradually with any new exercise program. Be safe but have fun out there!