A Slippery Slope

Still in the nascent days of my new Los Angeles life, I'm looking forward to the upcoming SoCal winter, finally free of slippery sidewalks, antifreeze, and staggering heating bills.

But this week I realized I had underestimated my lifelong love affair with the most surprising of objects. The snow shovel.

Sitting in the crowd at the Staples Center this past Wednesday, I took in my first LA Kings game. When the contest came to an occasional stop, a fleet of skaters descended upon the ice, each armed with a wide-mouthed shovel. As they glided in formation, up and down the rink, they scraped the ice clean with military precision.

Much to my surprise, I realized how much I wanted to join them. 

So much for palm trees and Coppertone.......

"Do you shovel to survive, or survive to shovel?" - Kobo Abe