Snow wisdom

I helped an older gentleman clear the snow from his car; he only had a small blue brush, so Emily eagerly handed me my extension tool . I had just returned an overdue book. It was 8:50, and I should have done the errand earlier, but the Girl Scout Service Unit Meeting ran late.

I didn't know he was a writer until I helped him; his work-weary hands unsteadily held his small brush. I used my extension tool to clear off the roof and the back window. He worked on the sides and front. We made small talk. "Not a night to be out," he remarked flashing me a gap-tooth grin, "I didn't know it was snowing again." Another half-inch blanketed a snow-weary city.

"I tried to renew the book over the phone, but someone reserved it. I felt obligated to hurry and return it." "I was working on my novel." I asked him about it, and he chatted animatedly. "I write it on legal paper with a pencil in a quiet corner." I smiled. "Some of my best essays were scribbled on legal paper." He asked me about my writing, and I said lately I've not been as productive I should be and definitely not focused. "You just got to go somewhere and make yourself do it." "Very true." I wished him well and heeded his advice.