The Mailbox

Going out to check the mail is not the coveted job in winter that it becomes nicer weather. The temperature has been creeping upward daily, but the windchill still makes it feel subzero. I much prefer waiting for someone else to retrieve the bills and junkmail rather than venture outside myself. Often a week-old Pennysaver is patiently wating in the tube out by the road, but as I have a tendancy to check the news online, the newspaper box remains perpetually empty and forlorn. The mailbox this year has thus far remained on it's perch. We have learned from previous winters that it must have the ability to spin on its post as snowplow blades otherwise have a tendency to toss it, not so gently, into the front yard. No longer unsuspecting, it now spins freely, hopefully keeping the contents inside rather than spewing magazines and envelopes out into the snow. These days the best kind of mail usually comes via the computer anyway, so I check the mail inside and send the kids out to get the bills.