Roseholme Cottage's primary piece of snow-clearing equipment is a smallish plastic shovel. (There's also a small snowthrower, but due to the fact that it is powered by a remotely-located coal-fired generator and there is a paucity of external outlets at Roseholme, it is mostly used for major emergency operations, like clearing the alley with a drop cord running into the garage.)
The snow was wet and heavy, and as I cleared the walks around Roseholme and the neighbor's house, each shovelful had to be turned upside down and given a vigorous jerk to get the snow to turn loose.
I basked in the smug feeling one gets from being only the second or third house on the block to have their walks cleared, and then set off on a celebratory stroll to the Fresh Market for bacon.
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| Worst single-day snowfall we've had since... January '09? I think? Probably eight or ten inches. |
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| The Heart of SoBro. Taken from the Fresh Market parking lot, left to right are Moe & Johnny's, Sam's Gyros, and Twenty Tap. Compare to this photo. |
Businesses were closing early all over the city, including all "non-essential" city government offices (Mr. Mayor, I just had a budget-slashing idea!) Apparently if your boss tells you it's too dangerous to drive to work, you need to go get some antifreeze at Moe & Johnny's before attempting the run home.
Time for a Hot buttered rum and curle up with a very good new book!
ReplyDeleteWalt
I remember a place in Louisville, back in the '70s, a hospital, as I recall. There was a huge snowstorm and they put out a message "Non-essential personnel can stay home." Later that spring, they had a layoff to trim the budget. Guess which list they started with? Yep, those non-essential people were first on the chopping block.
ReplyDeleteAwesome - you got it clear before it froze down hard, or worse yet, melted a little and turned into a snow-on-ice rink!
ReplyDeleteStay warm!
That looks like the past few weeks here in Wyoming. I 'spose if you only get a decent snowfall every four years or so, you get to name the clouds that dropped it.
ReplyDeleteKinda like getting an inch of snow in Texas ... must close the state now!
h, and what happens when you get a non-Euclidian snowstorm?
ReplyDeleteDoes ice form on the ground, and then slowly fall into the sky? Does Great Cthulhu show up and complain about the damned weather?
Try spraying your shovel with cooking spray (Pam) to get the snow to come off easier.
ReplyDeleteKristophr,
ReplyDelete1. "We" didn't name it. The Weather Channel has taken to naming winter storms in the US now, as I have blogged about recently, by way of snark.
2. This particular storm went on to shut down Cleveland, a city with some passing experience with snow, and is going to be dumping a foot+ on the head of the Laird of Castle Frostbite tonight.
3. The ten inches we got here (and even more south of the city) was combined with 40+ mph winds, a state called a "blizzard", accompanied by conditions referred to as "whiteout". Check with your local State Patrol offices; they'll tell you what that does.
4. A "blizzard" is going to cause somewhat larger traffic snarls on a county with a population of 850,000 than on a state with a population of 575,000.
Kristophr,
ReplyDelete"Does ice form on the ground, and then slowly fall into the sky? Does Great Cthulhu show up and complain about the damned weather?"
I want to go on the record as saying that this would be awesome. :D
"each shovelful had to be turned upside down and given a vigorous jerk to get the snow to turn loose."
ReplyDeleteAnnoying. Car wax on the shovel helps. For a time.
What is this 'snow' stuff?
ReplyDeleteFrost on the lawn this morning...yup, winter.
We got a "skiff" of snow; a quarter inch along the edges of sidewalks and roads. I don't envy the way deep stuff hampers travel and downs power lines, but dang we need the moisture here in north central Oklahoma.
ReplyDeleteOne trick I learned in winter in Minneapolis -- scatter a light dusting of sand over the snow and ice on the sidewalk. It is about as quick as salt or commercial melter stuff, and cannot damage the cement or rot metal things.
(I have some sand for the sand blast cabinet, and also a bit of "play" sand for the garden.)
Luck!
Heart attack snow is what I call it. I really don't miss heart attack snow...
ReplyDeleteIts snowed in Vegas a little bit this morning, nothing stuck though.
I see that picture, and I immediately am torn between "what the heck happened to my old stomping grounds?" and "why have you not eaten at Yat's yet?"
ReplyDeleteChalkie,
ReplyDeleteI've eaten at Yat's a bunch! We even had the last blogmeet there. :)
We got pretty hammered here in N/E Ohio, but the roads are now clear, back to life..........;)
ReplyDeleteAM,
DeleteHere in the Coal Regions of Pa. We get hammered first,and then go clear the roads. Much fun for everyone.
CIII
Yay for dry Colorado snow! :D You clear your car with a broom instead of a scraper. The crook handle shovels work great here, maybe not so much where ya get the heavy, wet stuff.
ReplyDeleteI spent Xmas at the sister's place up in ski country, as usual. Got six inches of powder overnight, and then, as it's wont to do here, the sun comes out again. Glorious day. Drove home via South Park the next morning, the light of the place is unique, and with the right music it's a groovy ride across the valley.
The only possible reason I can think of for naming winter storms (other than to boost ratings since hurricane season is over) is so that some blonde twit weatherbabe can gush that we're already on the "E" storm and it hit only a few days after winter officially began and this must mean that globull warmering is increasing (because everything means that globull warmering is increasing, don't'cha know).
ReplyDeleteI stopped bothering with the Weather Channel long ago. Glad I did.
I was supposed to go to IL to see the kids... that mess kept it from happening.
ReplyDeleteAlthough having a frozen dad on the side of the road in the middle of IN would have been worse than no visit.
"each shovelful had to be turned upside down and given a vigorous jerk to get the snow to turn loose."
ReplyDeleteMy shovel gets a once over with ptfe dry lube, Du Pont Slip Spray or the like. Wonderful for wet and sticky snow. That's when I can't get out soon enough to use one of those big outdoor pushbrooms. One of the advantages of living in a rowhouse, 15 by 10 and you're done.
Stay safe, stay warm
My mother keeps wondering why I didn't move back to the Midwest.
ReplyDeleteI'll just show her these pictures next time she asks.
I've often wondered why "non-essential" positions even exist in government.
ReplyDeleteI understand the concept - some pol has a nephew that can't get hired in the private sector, so a .gov job as a Telephone Sanitizer, 3rd Class is created to make said pol's sister happy.
However, any time a government position is identified as 'non-essential', it should automatically be on the chopping block at the next budget hearing.
Man, that's a whole lot of Global Warming there!
ReplyDeleteHeh. "Non-Essential." I mind the time I was living in Atlanta in the late seventies, out on DeKalb Avenue, and we had a snowfall on a Saturday night. It wasn't much, just an inch or three, and I had good boots.
ReplyDeleteI got up to walk to church the next morning, and all the churches were announcing on the radio that they were closed, except for the two I attended ; Church of Our Saviour, (I'm sure you know it, Tam, it's right across the street from George's Delicatessen) and the Atlanta Friends Meeting.
That's how you know who is serious, and who is not.
Oh, Kristopher, I do thank you very much for so justifiably rudely and absolutely compendiously slapping down the doodahs, whuffos, boneheads, and morons in the comment thread on Larry's most-excellent post.
ReplyDeleteHeck, even one of the guys from Wrong Planet showed up to lend support to our side, and say that Larry had pre-empted him in his project to get all the arguments out there and refute the bad wrong ones.
Up here in sweden we're pretty used to snow, sure there's some early winter traffic accidents every year, but places don't get shut down for anything under 2 feet of snow, depending on the place, possibly 3. I remember a particularly bad winter when we had 5 feet in 2 days, took them a week to get the roads cleared and grocery stores restocked.
ReplyDelete