Thursday, February 7, 2008

the mystery of the stolen snow

last week, when we had some significant snowfall, i was prepared to go out and shovel, or force kisu out the door to use the snowblower.

but before i got the chance, our snow disappeared, and i ain't talking about melting away. although that frequently happens in michigan, that was not the case on these two (not one, but two!) instances to which i am referring.

at first, i thought that kisu had hauled his own butt outside and cleared it, but then i remembered that he was down with whatever loathesome, unrelenting virus is plowing its way through the populace this season. (i would have forced him outside anyway.) it has to be bad if it's affecting kisu, he has the strongest constitution i've ever seen.

after it happened a second time, we discussed it before dinner, and pooka said, "it's just like the mystery of the stolen monkeys!"

uh, yeah, someone stole our snow.

kisu and i speculated on the details of who and how.

the city? no way.

a neighbor? not likely. we don't associate with most of them, and the one we do only has a shovel for a tool. the sidewalk looked like it had been cleared in a single pass with a blade equal to its width. so, even a snowblower was not the right fit.

i proposed that someone must have a quad with a plow attachment. kisu was skeptical; who has one of those?

last night as we came home, we saw a guy on a quad, plowing out a few driveways on the next street over.

that's gotta be him! let's go over and say thanks.

by the time we got out, he was making his way up and down the other sidewalks, as well. i figured i'd start on our driveway and wait to see if he came down our sidewalk. by the time i realized he wasn't going to, he had already disappeared. (on a sidenote: pooka will do anything to postpone bedtime, even clear 3 inches of snow out of the driveway with a shovel that's only 6 inches wide.)i have no idea where he lives. pooka and i walked around looking for him, or signs of him, to no avail. none of the cleared driveways showed any tracks to betray the quad's resting place.

i am completely at a loss for how to thank this helpful neighbor. i'll have to try and catch him in the act again.

tonight's forecast calls for more snow. if you need me, i'll be sitting at the window all night, waiting for the snow bandit.