Man is said to want but little here below,
And I have an idea that what he wants littlest of is snow…
~Ogden Nash, American poet
I Monkey here.
Hoo-boy, is Mama mad!!
That’s why I’ve taken over her blog — she can’t be trusted not to spew out “bad words” and alienate you good readers!
Anyway, it all started when our area got seven (and counting) inches of snow. SEVEN!!
View out of our front door
That’s more big snows than we’ve had in ages — certainly in my lifetime.
So this morning, Mama bundled herself up in about a half-dozen layers of clothing, poised to tackle the shoveling job.
In temperatures in the teens.
Besides looking like the Abominable Snowman, she must be laboring under the misconception that she’s young.
I Monkey have heard the warnings: OLD people ought to keep their puny selves indoors and not venture outside shoveling. But here we are.
Tiny Tree is HUGE now
She did a few paths in the back yard just for me (all the while complaining that I’d pottied on her patio). Seriously, Mama, how do you expect me to potty when the snow is up to my chest?? And more to the point, would you????
Then when she was good and mad, she came back inside and retrieved another shovel, this time for the front yard.
It was really coming down (those black blobs are birds)
Well, in her effort to keep me from scooting out the front door, she kind of let it slam behind her.
Unknowingly, of course.
I Monkey saw her watch as a guy in a big pickup truck with a snow-blade attached to its front bumper cleared off the street in front of the house. And then he made a few passes over the driveway of one of our neighbors.
Without bothering to stop and ask Mama if she’d like her driveway done, too. Even though she’d have paid him.
Huh, what’s up with that??
Kind neighbor feeds the birds
Then, after she’d tired herself out, she tried to get back inside, but the door had stuck.
Uh-oh.
She made some requests for me to open it, but I Monkey hadn’t the foggiest idea what she wanted.
I mean, really. I’ve been taught to Sit and Stay, to Heel and Tuck, but never was I introduced to opening doors. Maybe that’s in the advanced class or something?
Generally, I Monkey have been taught to stay away from the front door unless I’m on a leash. Or the delivery guy is there.
Anyway, after yanking on the door a few times (and growing madder by the second!), Mama decided to tromp through the snow around the house and hope the back door would open.
I hoped so, too. I’d have hated watching Mama try to potty in all that snow!
Poor little gnome is nearly buried
Well, fortunately, she had her keys because that door was locked. And when she came in, I Monkey insisted on going out to examine what she’d accomplished.
Not bad, Mama, I said as I got ready to hike my leg ….
Not On My Patio! Mama screamed.
Well, gee, Mama, tell the neighbors, why don’t you?
Musings by an ND Domer's Mom 
“.Seriously, Mama, how do you expect me to potty when the snow is up to my chest?? And more to the point, would you????” — “I hoped so, too. I’d have hated watching Mama try to potty in all that snow!”
LOL! Monkey, you CRACK ME UP!!!!
WOW, you got SEVEN inches? We here in the city of Philadelphia got 5 inches. And like where you live, the snow came down in sheets of white. The one perk about living in a city is that the city does all the shoveling and snow plowing. However the day after, the snow is usually a total mess because it starts melting into a blackish, grayish mess. YUCK!
Tell Mama I’ll be posting photos of Philly’s snow later this week.
Always enjoy your post, Monkey!
X to you and Mama!
Mr. Ron, I Monkey am happy you got a laugh out of my post, though I don’t expect Mama thought it was all that funny. Huh!
You got 5 inches of snow? Wow, I know you were looking forward to a big snowfall. We haven’t had anything this big in forever. It was super-heavy and wet, too, or so Mama said, meaning it will stick around for a while. Lucky you, not having to shovel the stuff! xx
Maybe you could make a snowdog with all that snow, Monkey. 🙂 But yeah, better stay off the patio! 😉
Miss Eliza, Mama tends to shovel off the patio — at least a wee bit — so I Monkey won’t bring snow into the house. That’s why it’s so much easier to potty there — because I don’t have to get icy feet in all that snow!
Oh dear! I shouldn’t be laughing, but you tell it so well, Monkey! Snow is not something I’m use to, so I think your Mama’s photos are beautiful. We were in the mid-60s under a tornado watch yesterday, but it was 25 when I went on my morning walk today. Brrrr! 🥶
Be nice to your Mama. She’s under a lot of stress with this weather!
Miss Kelly, Mama indeed is under a lot of stress. She keeps telling me that she doesn’t control the weather, but I Monkey have a hard time believing that! At least she tries to keep the weather out of the house, but I Monkey seem to keep bringing it in. Sigh. That’s quite a temperature swing you had — from the 60s to the 20s?? Brr, for sure.
Hahahaha! Oh Monkey, your poor mama! Don’t tell her how much I laughed, especially when you worried about her pottying on the patio! I’m sure that in her calmer moments your mama is probably very glad you haven’t mastered door-opening yet… 😂
Miss FF, I Monkey think she really ought to have taught me how to potty in that porcelain thing indoors. That way, I wouldn’t have to get cold and wet. But you make a good point about my not having mastered door-opening … yet. If I could learn how to get out the back door to my nice fenced yard, why, I could go out and chase things any time I wanted to, without having to wait for Mama!!
Monkey …. thanks for the report on the storm. Cincinnati got bashed, too. At least Mama didn’t potty in the snow. … well, at least not yet.
HaHa, Mr. Frank! I Monkey think it’s a good thing she pottied before she went out to shovel. Can you imagine what the neighbors would’ve thought?! I’m glad we were able to share our snow with you!
Wow. Stay warm and thank you for feeding the birdies.
Miss Cindy, I Monkey am the reason why Mama can’t feed the birdies any more (she lets the neighbors do it). You see, I love to chase small critters (rabbits, squirrels, birds, doesn’t much matter), and Mama says I’m too fast for my own good. I catch them and, even though Mama spends a small fortune on my food, I love eating what I’ve caught. Mama says she can’t bring herself to lure the birds here, then watch me go after them. She’s not a lot of fun, is she??
Oh Monkey! The storm went south of us, though it snowed here, a little bit at a time, all day and now it’s seriously snowing. So I imagine by tomorrow morning we’ll have some snow, but still not as much as you guys. Penny so far doesn’t seem to mind putting her private parts in the snow to go. But we haven’t had deep snow yet. We used to shovel out a path for Katie who was much more a princess than Penny is. I hope your mom gets over being mad soon, because I think we’re in for more snow!
Miss Dawn, Mama used to shovel out a path for St. Dallas, too, but despite trying, this time she didn’t get much done for me (isn’t that always the way? poor little second child!). Anyway, I Monkey heard her complaining that this snow (which actually measured NINE inches!!) was far too heavy and wet for her to make a decent path. It kept sticking to her shovel. But you know, there’s not much prettier than a sugar-coated Sheltie, is there?!!
Exactly!
Last night, I talked with some friends and family in Kansas City. They got a half inch of ice and then ten inches of snow — that would have made it even harder for your Mama! But tell her she wasn’t the only one who had some difficulties. One of my friends ended up outside without her key. She wasn’t shoveling; she’d just gone out on impulse to take some photos. Lucky for her that a neighbor in her place came along and let her in.
My advice to you is to enjoy the snow from the inside, pee as quickly as you can, and stay off that patio!
Miss Linda, Mama was really worried about the possibility of ice. I Monkey think she was afraid the power would go off, and she’d freeze or something. Shoot, with all the coats and blankets she has around here — in addition to my nice furry self! — she’d be hard pressed to do that. But we heard that KC got slammed. A lot of places further south from here did, too. It’s never a good idea to go anywhere without your keys — that’s what Mama says, and she knows. If I Monkey can’t open doors, you know I can’t operate a key, hee hee!
Wow! You and Mama had quite a day, Monkey! Three years ago, back in Connecticut, we got 21 inches of snow in a blizzard, so the account of your snowy “adventures” brought back some memories for me. I loved seeing how huge tiny tree is getting and how pretty she looks in the snow. I’m one of those people who think evergreens and snow were made for each other. But I agree with you, older people out shoveling the white stuff is not a good idea! Hopefully Mama will hire someone ahead of time to come do your driveway next time so you can watch it get done together, safely tucked and warm inside.
Twenty-one inches? Wow, Miss Barbara, I Monkey would be completely buried in snow that deep! And even hard-hearted Mama would have to call it quits on sending me out to potty. You’d think some nice, young teenager would help his/her neighbors out by shoveling (because school was called off and all), but no. I Monkey guess they were indoors sleeping, watching TV, or playing on their devices. Sigh — and Mama was even willing to pay to have that shoveling done.
Oh, Monkey, you have to cut your mom a little slack here. Humans really hate snow because they have to shovel it, and they also have no idea how hard it is to go to the bathroom in it. Which is why they expect us to do it all the time. But one thing that makes them even madder is when they get stuck outside in the snow and can’t get back in, which almost happened to your mom! (Just think how bad it would have been if she didn’t have her keys.) So you’ll just have to overlook her crankiness until the temperatures rise and the snow melts. After that, she’ll settle down, trust me. Love, Finn
Finn, I Monkey will trust you on all this (after all, you’re older and wiser than I am!) But seriously, you should’ve seen her face when she realized the door wouldn’t open, and she was on the wrong side of it. I was sitting politely watching her, and there she was, yanking on that door and getting colder by the minute! Funny thing is, it was the glass storm door, not the main door, and it wasn’t locked. Just stuck because it had slammed behind her. All I’d have had to do was run into it hard to make it fly open — but I Monkey didn’t know that (and figured I’d be in BIG trouble if I didn’t wait right there to see how things played out!)