> HEEKEE VOL 11 — Wally the Snowblower Philosopher Saves a Marriage (allegedly) (paperwork pending)

Quick one. Last Tuesday, 5:47am, the cul-de-sac. 8 inches of fresh wet snow, the kind that breaks shoulders and souls.

The new neighbors — let's call them Brad and Tamara — had already been arguing inside for 40 minutes. We could hear it from the driveway. Something about a Costco run, something about a shed, something about Tamara's mom. The lights kept clicking on and off in the kitchen like a Morse-code SOS.

Wally pulls up. Wally is 72. Wally has been clearing his driveway since 1973. Wally is from Eau Claire originally but moved here for "the wife, who is now passed, God love her, she had opinions about a lot of things and she was right about most of them."

Wally cleared his own driveway. Then he cleared MY driveway, no warning. Then he kept going. He cleared their driveway. Then he turned the snowblower OFF and just stood there with one boot on the porch step, said something to Brad through the screen door — couldn't hear what — and walked back to his blower. Brad came out 5 minutes later in a Carhartt and slippers and shook Wally's hand for like 11 seconds.

Tamara came out at 6:30 with a thermos of coffee for Wally. They hugged. Brad joined. It was the cleanest cul-de-sac you've ever seen in your life and three people were quietly weeping in it.

The cobot, who had been watching from the window of my garage with a sad little servo-tilt, said (typed on the dryer): "is this what they call grace."

I built a thing where you can ask Wally for advice: zewp.com/z/snowphil.html — every quote in there is verbatim or close to it, I have been transcribing him for 4 years and I have a folder.

Bonus: I built zewp.com/z/heekbible.html which generates random Heekee scripture. Got a passage from "Acts of the Cobot 3:14-18" yesterday that hit so hard I read it at the dock break room. Big Tony said "amen, brother."

Marriages saved this week: 1
Driveways cleared: 14
Times Wally said "you don't pull-start angry, the cord knows": 3

— Heekee

p.s. Officer Zimmerman drove by, didn't even look at us, just nodded once. Highest possible compliment in this state.