Background: last night I had a self-promotion idea for my graphic design consultancy business: a tongue-in-cheek , snow shoveling-themed postcard. (We just received a few inches of sleet and snow here in north Jersey, USA.) I imagined the mailer employing some kind of infographical treatment, perhaps illustrations of a shoveler with call-outs of Dos and Don’ts. It’d be based in truth, but there’d be some fun in the liberties I could take.

I needed some inspiration, fueled by research. Initial Googling found plenty of lame “advice” articles (“1. Wear warm clothes…”). I lose all respect for the article that starts out that way; we are talking about snow here, not sand.

I drastically veered from my mission when I came upon The Wovel, and I knew I just had to wax rhapsodically. The manufacturer does have rather pedantic Quicktime videos on their site (for those of you hell-bent on dominating the Wovel cocktail chat this weekend), but the above YouTube video seems simpler and, I dare say, more…dramatic(?!).

The world will always need a good ergo-gadget (think post-petroleum now), and this one positively screams fulcrum! It actually helps you propel the snow, something no over-engineered, space-age, bent aluminum scoop-on-a-stick creation can.* I own a rather new and large snowblower but I’m not all that fond of the bulk, weight, noise, exhaust vibration and maintenance that comes in tow. This here woveler may be a tool worth trying, though at $78.00 I’ll need to think more on it.

Okay, now I’ve found the SnoLift Easy Shovel, but it rolls on two tiny wheels. Right away, the Wovel (yes, it still is weird to type that with a straight face) comes across as superior, like it could handle any depth of snow. “Big wheel keep on turnin’,” if you know what I mean.

There. Do you now have a firm and loving grasp on modern day, environmentally- and skeletally-friendly snow removal? I didn’t think so.

Finally, this product badly needs a viral video. Surely someone can edit the available footage and maybe set it to something like Devo’s “Whip It,” accentuating the wrist-snap that sends your cakey precipitate flying. Who knows, it could be the stuff of a white-hot national craze, or at least get some sedentary people outdoors safely in winter.