My friend on Wineva Avenue was just beaming when I saw him last week.
The first thing I thought was a lottery win. I quickly scanned my brain and realized I'd never done anything to annoy or irritate my friend so asking for 50 large wouldn't be a stretch.Well did I get a surprise when I found out my friend's big grin was because it had just snowed and he was now able to shovel.If you're from the Cayman Islands or some other such paradise, you won't have a clue what I'm talking about but in Canada shoveling the white stuff is an art.This winter has been a complete bust for those wanting to develop the art of shoveling, but last week Mother Nature came though with just enough flakes to make the snow removal artiste salivate.Now let's get one thing straight, a snow blower is a wimp's way of clearing a snowfall. They're noisy, they require maintenance and you need a lot of space to store them. A shovel on the other hand is like a paintbrush or better yet, a conductor's baton. A shovel fits your hand like a winter glove, which is something you should always wear when shoveling because they protect you like an artist's smock. Now a shovel can also lead to some serious health issues because you never know how heavy the white stuff will be. Too much in a shovel at one time and you're calling 911. On the other hand, if the snow is too fluffy the wind blows it everywhere making the whole exercise a waste of time.You see the art of shoveling is a balance between lifting the right amount of snow and throwing it in a way that not only looks good but also has distance.My friend on Wineva was born in Quebec so he's been shoveling mountains of snow since the age of six. His stroke is flawless and even though we only had about an inch, you could tell by his style that he'd become a virtuoso. I marveled at his technique and asked how he'd been able to keep his perfect form when there had been so little snow.He told me he watches the Weather Channel like other guys watch TSN. He said two weeks ago he drooled when he watched the people in Alaska dig out from a 27-foot snowfall. To him it was the Olympics of shoveling.Needless to say I was inspired by what he told me so I asked if he'd like to continue perfecting his artistry over at my house to which he smiled and said yes.Hey I'm a patron of the arts, what can I say?