Digging Out with the Orange Beast

You see this snow blower?


This snow blower is a game day player. This snow blower shows up. When winter pounds Northeast Ohio and dumps half a dozen inches of snow in the driveway, the orange beast digs you out. It may be old, it may be cranky and it may take ten good yanks to get started (that's right, no electric start on this machine) but once the smoke clears, the driveway is as good as clean.

I've owned the beast for ten years. I don't really know how old it is but it may have come from the 80's. I got it free because the previous owner couldn't get it to start. A new plug, a clamp on the throttle and a new gas tank brought it back to life. The orange beast shows its gratitude every time winter dumps on us.

I've been in Sears. I've seen the fancy new Craftsmen behemoths that look like they can clear twice as much snow in half the time it takes the beast. But you know what I don't see? Heart. They look too new and too pretty to take out and ding up. The orange beast has heart. It wants to be driven until it just won't start anymore. I'm happy to oblige.