Snow, Shovels, and Hidden Treasure!

(Woke up to 56 cm of snow! I grabbed a shovel, joined my son, and uncovered a hidden ‘treasure’—join me on this snowy day adventure!)

Do you feel the world is changing so fast that it’s completely beyond our control?

Well, nothing caught us more off guard than the 56 centimeters of snow we woke up to this Monday.

That morning, I was getting ready for work. Knowing it had snowed overnight, I asked my son to clear the driveway for me.

To be honest, even though I’ve lived in Canada for twenty years, I rarely shovel snow. You see, I’m not good with the cold, and I’m the only woman in the house… so yes, I’ve been enjoying a little privilege here.

About  twenty minutes later, I walked into the garage—and gasped.

The driveway had vanished beneath a blanket of snow, nearly half a metre deep. My son had only managed to clear a narrow path just wide enough to walk through. There was no way my car could get out.

Looking around, I saw snow mountains lining every driveway in the neighbourhood. The sidewalk had turned into a narrow snow tunnel. The road hadn’t been cleared, and one car was already stuck in the middle. Definitely not a day to go to the office, I thought.

Also, strangely at that moment, I felt a sudden urge: I want to battle the snow! Something I had never felt before.

So I found another snow shovel and joined my son. Once I started shoveling, I realized my enemy wasn’t as tough as I’d imagined. The snow was light, fluffy—almost friendly 🙂

Our dog, Sparky, must have sensed that. He was jumping and rolling, going completely wild. When he pushed forward, it looked as if he were swimming, sending snow flying to both sides—just like an automatic snow-plower.

The real challenge was the sheer volume. We already had snow mountains from previous storms. The only option was to make them taller, which meant we had to lift our shovels higher and higher.

It was a bright, sunny day. Snow flew into the air. Some landed on the pile. Some fell right back onto our faces and hair. It was hilarious to watch my son’s hair slowly turn white.

“Good exercise and Vitamin D,” I thought cheerfully, as we finally finished and sat down for breakfast.

Then something occurred to me. The day before, I had watched a video warning homeowners to check their furnace exhaust vents after heavy snow—because if a vent is blocked, there’s a risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.

The problem was, I didn’t even know where ours was. So I contacted my husband—the handyman of our house, who is currently away. To my surprise, he wasn’t sure either. He only said it might be on the west side of the house, and that rang a bell for me. I realized we had never cleared snow on that side before.

So I dug out my rarely worn tall boots, grabbed a shovel, and headed back outside. Along the wall, I saw two pipes running from the ground up to the roof. The snow was deep, and I had to shovel my way closer.

Is this the one?

I started clearing the snow anyway—until an opening finally appeared. I let out a breath. Then I uncovered the second one too.

Encouraged by my seeming success, I even cleared my neighbour’s vent. I simply couldn’t stand the thought that someone might be poisoned by something that could be prevented.

When I went back inside, thrilled and satisfied, something still tugged at my mind. Why were these vents placed so low? In the video, they were much higher off the ground.

“Every house is different,” I told myself. Still… it didn’t feel right.

So, for the third time, I went back outside—this time to the east wall within the backyard, a section we had overlooked. Once again, I had to carve out a path through the snow. Near the wall, I spotted the gas meter, barely visible now. I cleared it, then kept shoveling.

And just as I hoped—there it was. The real furnace exhaust vent. Exactly like the one in the video. The moment I cleared the snow around it, I heard the sound of air rushing out freely. I knew—I had found exactly what I was looking for. It felt like discovering hidden treasure.

Back in the house, I told my son what I had done. He was amazed.

“You’ve been outside searching for that all this time?”

I just smiled. He may not understand. But I truly enjoyed this snow day adventure.

Strangely, throughout the whole process, I never felt the bitter cold—or maybe I totally forgot about it. I was happy I had safeguarded our house. But even more than that, I discovered something about myself: I am stronger than I thought.

And yes—I can beat the cold! I can beat the snow!