An iPod of Shoveled Hope

The snow continues to drop and I am thankful that my friend, Tricia, gave me a gift certificate to Audible.com so I was able to download books to my iPod. Good karma in my view, because now I can work up a sweat, move snow, and listen to stories as I go along.

I began with Shel Silverstein's Runny Babbit and loved the word play of rearranged letters and hysterical puns as a result. I could listen to Silverstein's writing all the time because it is clever and funny.

I've also been listening to Uwen Akpan's collection of short stories Say You're One of Them, a collection of tales that feature refugee children in Africa as they interface with changing lives caused by politics, international NGOs, and a 'whatever it takes to survive' attitude

of individuals trying to make it in their worlds. The stories are well crafted, well conceived and well read. They are, however, a bit haunting.

Because there is never enough time in the world to do everything, it

is great to be able to make the most out of snow removal. I'm sure some never thought there'd be a day when scraping six inches of fluff could coincide with 60 minutes of a textual reading. Oh, but in 2010 it's a reality.