After most of our snow finally melted this week, another storm blew in yesterday and we accumulated another 9-10 inches! Unbelievable! But even more unbelievable to us is for the third storm in a row, while shovelling out from under the latest load, enjoying it but not exactly loving it for the seemingly hundredth time this winter...Phantom Plow Guy sweeps up to the end of our driveway, puts his plow down and scrapes away what would otherwise take a couple more back-aching hours of work for the two of us to take care of.
The amazing thing is, we have no idea who this guy is! I finally got a closer look today, because it looked like he was getting stuck and spinning his wheels while trying to make his get-away. I came around from the front of the house where I was shoveling to see if I could give him a hand. Awkwardly running through snow that was almost knee-high, I only could look up and wave at the tail end of his truck when his wheels finally caught some traction and he sailed off.
I shouted out a loud, "Thank you! You're the best!"
And, the old guy in the old truck gave a slight wave and smile, as he drove off.
Like I said, this is the third time that he's appeared and cleared out the end of our driveway. One time Ace tried to gesture to him that we'd like to give him some money, but he waved Ace off, again with a smile, as he drove away.
We realized that we've never seen him drive by our house on a regular basis. My theory is that he drives some other vehicle the rest of the time, but for storms he pulls out his old plow and truck and just drives around giving people a little boost in the otherwise drudge of the constant and steady shoveling that seems to have hit us this winter.
Another theory we've come up with is that this old-timer is "Old Concord." In his 70's, wearing one of those red and black wool hats with the ear flaps down and driving his old truck, a model from sometime in the early 1980's, we've entertained the idea that maybe he likes to drive around and give a helping hand to those of us who actually shovel out our own driveways. Unlike the many new-monied who have moved here and built their McMansions in this otherwise country town which Thoreau roamed and wrote about, we don't hire an arsenal of service people to help us survive here. We take care of our own lawn, laundry, gardens, snow-piled driveways, and assorted other life necessities.
Maybe this guy wants to let us know that he appreciates that?!
Whatever it is, it sure makes me appreciate that there are still some people out there in this day and age who willingly and easily lend a hand to a stranger. Makes me want to go out and do something that puts a smile on someone else's face like the one he left on mine!
