Early Morning Lawn Maintenance

Early this morning (around 6:00), I found myself in that strange, liminal state where the line between sleep and awake becomes blurred.  I dreamed that it was still dark outside, yet I heard the sound of many lawnmowers in my neighborhood.  It was confusing, and I thought to myself, “Who the crap is mowing their yard at 6:00 in the morning?”  I finally got out of bed and realized that my dream was actually closer to reality than I had hoped.  The only difference…people were not mowing their yards, but rather they were plowing their driveways…at 6:00 in the morning.

Living in Milwaukee is  wonderful for about 7-8 months out of the year…past that, it can be somewhat annoying.  Last night’s winter storm dumped roughly 5 inches of snow on the city, and this morning I was forced to join the ranks of my neighbors who had arose early to combat the wintery enemy.  For thirty minutes, I walked up and down my driveway, blowing snow into large piles around my house, and I could not help but return to my dream in which people were mowing their yards in the wee hours of the morning.  Come to think of it, when Spring arrives, I think I will start mowing my yard before the sun has come up…why not?

Milwaukee is Cold!

Upon waking up this morning, I looked over at the window next to my bed.  Normally, I can see my garage and my neighbor’s back yard.  This morning, however, I couldn’t see anything except white.  “It must have snowed,” I thought.  Wrong!  The white that I saw was actually a layer of frost on the INSIDE of my window.  Thats right, it is so cold outside that the condensation from the inside of my windows is freezing.  I’m sure this will get old eventually, but for now it is pretty cool.

Snow, the Alien

I grew up in Texas, where snow is not something that is common. Most winters in Texas consist of lots of wind and the occasional drop below freezing. When this happens, everyone gets really worried and starts salting their driveways. Nothing typically comes from these short freezes, but it will on occasion start to snow. When this happens, all hell breaks loose. Schools are canceled, people call in sick to work because they are too afraid to drive, and lines at the grocery stores get really long. People buy jugs of water and cans of food because you just never know how long this snow is going to last! Well, it never lasts for more than a day and a half.

Today, I awoke to the following scene:

Thats right, it snowed last night in Milwaukee. When I saw the snow, my initial reaction was excitement. For most of my life, snow has meant a much-deserved rest from school and an excuse to lie around the house all day watching cartoons. My second reaction was more sober, even slightly depressed. Well, maybe not depressed…perhaps I’ll just stick with sober.

Anyway, what I realized was that this snow is not offering me a break or an excuse to have fun…this snow is reminding me that it is about to get REALLY cold here and thus my life will consist of indoor activities for the remainder of the year. Sobering, but not all bad.