Member-only story
Bonding Over a Cub Cadet 3X Snow Blower
It’s a guy thing, or used to be….
I felt guilty. I hadn’t seen our neighbors in a while. The weather was crap. Snow. Freezing cold temps. Then Jerry’s favorite aunt died in PA. After returning from the funeral he and Deb quarantined a fortnight.
My wife and I are new to upstate. We’re both from LA. Twenty-five years ago we moved to NYC, which is not the best way to prepare for small-town life in the southern Catskills where the silos hold grain, county fairs mean business, and folks trace their roots way back to when.
They took us in hand, showed us how to share roads with horse-drawn buggies, and shop for clothes at Tractor Supply.
The guys from Lowes brought the snow blower early, just after seven am. Luckily I was already up and dressed. I trudged through drifts and danced over the ice-slick driveway to pay homage to this new tool that was complex enough to almost be a vehicle.
“The handles on either side control your direction,” the elder of the two delivery guys explained. White whiskers formed the tip of his beard. He wore overalls and no mask.
“It’s got its own headlight,” I exclaimed.
They just looked at me.
The other delivery guy finished priming the spark plug hole. He used a socket wrench…