A Trusted Friend

Now, I know you may think I'm a little cracked to be writing about a shovel as a trusted friend.  No, I have not overdosed on the antibiotics or cough medicine.  I promise, I'm not nuts...let me introduce you to my shovel.

Back in 1993, I was living alone in a big city with a parking space and for the first time I was responsible for my own snow removal.  That's was a daunting process as this was one of the winters we had an enormous amount of snow, and I literally had no where else to put it.  It was up to the windows in the tiny front square we called the lawn and the banks by the sidewalks were over our heads.  It was unreal.  So, when the second snow storm caught me without a shovel, I walked over to a department store that was close to my home.  I searched the shovels to find just the right one (read: within my incredibly limited budget) and saw many that were the cadillac of shovels, metal, shiny, and very well made.  Then, I came across my little shovel.

This green, plastic shovel with the wood handle was more or less a Charlie Brown tree in the midst of some pretty handsome competition.  That was okay with me because the price was just right.  About $7.50 as I remember now.  I lifted it and tried it out in the store, I liked the feel of it, so I took it home.  And shovel that little workhorse has done.  It has been with me when I was single, engaged, married and is now the favorite of my husband and oldest son.  It has shoveled, I would guess, a literal ton of snow.  It's great because it's not too heavy on it's own, the all wood handle flexes just enough when the bucket part is full of snow, and the bucket is shallow so doesn't let you lift too much for your back.

Yes, the old boy is showing his age and wear now.  The tip of his bucket is cracking back some because of how much ice and snow he's scraped.  His edge is no longer straight, having been worn back enough to let the ribs of the bucket be all that remain on the edge.

 It's been a great and true friend and has gotten me out of many snowy situations.  One of my fondest is the time I got my car stuck in a bank and shoveled and shoveled to get it out.  That shovel was a lifesaver, perhaps many times over.  Someday I will retire him, but for now, we're working on 18 years together and the fact that his edge isn't smooth, and his varnish is gone from the handle won't discourage us from keep on keeping on.  It's a good partnership, and let's face it, those are hard to find.

Wishing you some dependable help of your own, ~Peacemom