My high school student neighbor has shoveled out the driveway. He even came knocking without a desperate call from me. He says he will clear a path to the tank. The tank site is at least marked with one of our driftwood treasures. Dislodging the certainly frozen metal cover will be the challenge. All is well. I’m pleased not to ask the ever-willing Paul for help, though he has finished off the driveway and created a path to the cat door. I’m guessing Carrot has bribed him. 

In my mind, the propane path is handled. That is until I arrive home from my evening Child & Family Agency meeting and discover, it’s NOT handled. I have been failed. What’s a girl to do? The answer to the question is easy, though I didn’t initially choose it. There’s an absolutely beautiful full moon. Start shoveling. Clear the path. Be prepared, like the forever Girl Scout that I am. Fortunately, also very Girl Scout-ish, I had placed a very long stick in the hole in the cover, so I knew where the tank was. The path is now clear. The blue shovel clears the way. All that remains for the morning is what I’ve imagined to be the most challenging, this is, to free the metal cover. We’re almost there! 

I oversleep. Guess I was a bit tired. I’m dreaming about the propane tank, granted not very sexy, but I’m shown the tools needed to free the frozen cover. In my dream state, I see the exact hammer and the chisel. I know exactly where they are in my collage studio in the clear box labeled “Tools.”

I hear a truck, I freak, I jump out of bed and see the blessed All Waste garbage guy freeing my garage bins at the end of the now liberated driveway, thank you Paul and others. I still have time for the last of the propane job. Coffee and a quick breakfast fuel the effort. Tools in hand, I walk the path smiling at my moonlight work. I dig out around the now ground level cover and clear away the ice with the chisel. With the hammer and a few whacks on the chisel, voila! Now all is in fact, well. The cover is free. I thank my angel team and am back in the house in 30 minutes, or less, after a couple of iPad photos. Seems nothing happens today that we don’t take a picture of, so here’s one of mine.  

Two hours later, Quality Propane and their very nice driver, Eric Riebold, shows up. He’s smiling, and doing his filling the tank thing. He thanks me in appreciation for having cleared the way. And why wouldn’t I?” was my thought. It seems some folks don’t. I felt empowered, and excited to share my moonlight adventure, and eventual success. It was nothing, but to me it was everything.

Be a sport and clear the way for these guys! They want us to be warm. So make it possible, with ease and grace.

Note from the artist: If you’d like a copy of I Am Woman “bird,” email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . In kind, we’d like to add you to our mailing list for occasional updates from the Jill Butler art&design Studio. To find out what a “Bird” is read the back story about the collection of drawings created in memory of my brother, York Butler. www.jillbutler.com/yb-fund.html.