Shoveling Snow
You might have heard something about the unusual snowstorms in Colorado over the past three weeks. Something like four feet of snow since before Christmas, and the snow has been on the ground ever since it started. As I was out shoveling snow yet again tonight, the results of numerous studies showing that Minnesota was the “healthiest state” finally made sense to me.
Before, I just ignored the results, thinking there’s no way Minnesota can be healthier than Colorado. As Minnesotans have told me, their weather features four distinct seasons of winter. Unless everyone snowshoes in sub-zero weather, they just couldn’t be more active and fit than Coloradans.
Now I know. It’s the shoveling! As fellow Colorado digger Brad Feld pointed out this morning, every cubic foot of packed snow weighs about 30 pounds. He had to get rid of about 4000 cubic feet with two friends this morning, which equates to lifting about 40,000 pounds of snow in 90 minutes. Whew!
I did far less than that, and I thought my abdominal muscles might explode. To say it’s a good aerobic workout is the ultimate understatement. In Denver, where a good half of our population lives, we get surprisingly little snow (or moisture in general). When it does snow, the odds are good that it will melt that very same day.
That has clearly made us weak!
So, I give up. Minnesota, you’ve earned your right to be #1. And, please know, I’m in no hurry to beat you out in this category.