Survey, nap, then shovel

I spent Saturday afternoon at work, occupied enough that I didn't notice the progression from light flurries to powder snow falling on Sapporo. In those few hours, the landscape had gone from patches of icy remains to a soft white blanket. On the (extremely) short walk to the subway station, I almost took a dive into the pavement and could have had a look at just how powdery this stuff was. The snow kept on falling after I got home and resumed my hourly trips to the window to observe the snowfall situation (see previous post).

Sunday morning brought the first official snow-shoveling session of the season. That is, for most of the neighbors. I put on my coat, stepped outside, and saw just about every neighbor in full shoveling mode.  Recalling my mantra that nine's a crowd, I did a U-Turn and went back to bed. At about 2 in the afternoon I did my duty. I started by sweeping the accumulated snow off the top of the car. Then it's shovel-load by shove-load to the sidewalk across the street, the designated spot for residents of our apartment building. 

Later, on a trip to the grocery store (where my cart of beer and mayonnaise drew a few glances), I saw the mounds of snow in parking lots, which tractors cleared as I slept (photo above [of the snow, not of me sleeping]). So that's phase one of my adjustment to life in the Snow Country (not to be dramatic). As for the beer, it was a combination of Yona Yona ale and the big bottles of Sapporo, the latter thanks to some gift certificates from my wife's grandmother back in Mie. She also sent mikan.