Midwesterners spend a lot of time each year contemplating weather-related minutiae, particularly in the winter. For my part, the early morning today was consumed by contemplation of which combination of frozen precipitation is worst to shovel. I’ve decided that one inch of sleet topped with another inch of snow should probably place near the top of the worst mix list, and here’s why:
First, it’s deceptive. It’s not deep. So as you prepare to go outside and clear the walks, you’re thinking, “no problem. I’ll be done in no time.” And then you get outside to find what you’re really dealing with is a nasty layer of frozen ice pellets that has adhered to the concrete. Which brings me to problem #2:
It’s heavy. Ice is heavy. And the fact that you have to chip it off the pavement with a heavy shovel only adds to the effort. My woes are compounded by the fact that my rather severely-sloped driveway is situated between two tall retaining walls, so every shovelful of ice has to be thrown up over my head to be disposed of. By the time I get to the top of the slope to embark on clearing the other, flat half (two thirds, really) of the driveway, I’m bushed.
The only upside, if it can be called such, is that one can accomplish a pretty decent workout in a short period of time. I tell ya, I was about ready for a cold beer this morning at 6:30, which is a full 90 minutes before I’m usually ready for a cold beer in the morning. I chatted briefly with my brother-in-law in Madison before leaving for work, and he’d been out working to clear 12″ of fluffy snow. God, how I envied him.