Post by bfhammer on Jan 13, 2024 20:53:20 GMT
Just in case there is a southerner out there who wonders how all that snow gets moved.
It was was close to a foot of snow and it blew all night long also. I looked out the window and my neighbors had my back a little. I saw some of the end of my driveway was cleared and they sidewalk was too. That can be the worst part of the job due to the street plows pushing icy slush up there.
Out the back door, I keep a shovel ready to grab and clearing out the walk there.
In the back porch is my 18 inch wide push broom I keep reserved for brushing off cars in the winter. Fastest method possible. But still a lot of work as it was piled high. And stomping through the snow as I go.
So next I shovel out the doors of my garden shed and hope the lock is not all iced up. Good news there today.
And I bring out the big power tool. Fully needed as I move into my senior years. This has 6 forward gears, today it will mostly be in 1st or 2nd as the snow auger gets overloaded if I am cutting through faster.
I start cutting a path through. I need about 4 swaths for room to turn around in. Four swaths down the top of the driveway, then I do 4 swaths sideways from the front of the white car.
Now able to start working from the center of the driveway, I go full length down and back. Now it's a racetrack pattern with the snow chute aimed to the right and just working outward.
When I have gone the full width of the driveway, I then clean off the sidewalk. It was basically already done by a neighbor, but that does not stop me from widening it a little and cleaning up what the wind deposited since. I go the full length for both of my next door neighbors. Sometimes I'm out there ahead of them and we catch each other's back that way. I am the old guy here too.
During this I have the cars warming up with the defrosters melting the windows. Now I have to move them both forward down the driveway and clean up the parking.
The back end of my driveway opens up wide. I do clean it all because it is just wide enough to do a Y-turn and be able to drive forward to the street. I don't have a garage to shelter the cars so this is my one advantage on this busy state highway street I live on. Backing out is a bear.
Put the cars back in their spots, grab the shovel and get the front door steps. Along the way I also run the snowblower on the front door walk and make a path across the lawn for the mailman to walk through to my mailbox. Brush off the snow on the snowblower and park it back in the shed (before moving the cars back). Today it was a bit over 2 hours to do all this. If I could have run in 4th gear, I would have finished in about an hour. I did stop and catch my breath several times also (and also took photos).
