Angel With a Plow

Stuck in the Driveway

Some Angels Have Plows

Plowing the Driveway

Snow Pile

And It Starts to Snow Again

Digging Out

Last night as the dome of snow clouds dimmed like mood lighting in a restaurant, Todd got the car stuck in our driveway. The mood it set was dismal at best. Darkness encroached and he still couldn't budge the Fusion one inch back or forward. We ate our crab quiche dinner in silence not sure what the morning would bring but more snow.

Morning dawns with that hopeful feeling that sunlight brings. It's not exactly sunny; the clouds hang so low I can almost touch one. The snow has let up, and Elmira is crisp as white linen with the Fusion plugging the driveway like a broken cork in a wine bottle.

Todd is digging with his shovel as I fix an apple puff-pancake for breakfast. He's supposed to leave for Moses Lake to work a 12-day shift. Digging out a stuck car is not a great start. I sip coffee, pour batter over diced apples and pray that someone helpful comes along.

Last night, Todd trudged through drifts of snow to get to a neighbor and ask for help. Seems the neighbor was in bed sick, and his sons were busy digging out their own road. It looked as though we'd be stuck until spring.

Breakfast is ready and I call to Todd who's ready to break the shovel in half. Sitting at the table, Bobo begins to bark at the south window. Not sure what to expect, I go to the window. "Todd," I say, "Get your boots back on--there's a man with a snowplow in our driveway!"

True. A man with a beautiful midnight-blue, 4WD, Dakota truck with a split-flex snowplow, orange cab lights and a sand dispenser in the bed. When God answers prayers, He sends the best. I'm grinning with cup of coffee at the window, watching Todd greet the man who says, "I see you're stuck."

The men strap a towline to the car, get it out of the snow bank and the truck proceeds to plow great swaths of snow into our yard. Todd has the car turned around and now the plow is clearing the way to the road. I grab the last of my Peach Man freezer jam and call to Todd, "Give this to him!"

Todd comes back in to gather up his duffel bag and say good-bye. I ask how much we owe the man, and Todd smiles and says, "Your jam was enough. He just stopped to help."

As Todd leaves, the clouds begin to dump more snow, but we are no longer stuck thanks to the angel with a plow.