When icicles hang by the wall...

[shewhomust]

..they drip onto the ground below and create a patch - and eventually a hummock - of ice.

I hadn't reckoned with this when I went out to shovel the snow off the back steps. It looked so loose and powdery, I thought it would be a straightforward task to dig a route through to the compost bin. But no, there is ice to be broken up first - and meanwhile the icicles were dripping down my neck. And then it started snowing again.

So I put out the crusts for the birds and came in again. Now the back door won't close properly.

Snow clearing: it's a lost art.

Comments

[weegoddess.livejournal.com]

I read this to J and he chuckled loudly. Yes, snow-clearing is a lost art. And there is this continual conflict between 'if I wait, it'll soften and melt' and 'if I wait, it'll melt then freeze'.

The snow that we've been having lately (both in Boston and in State College) has been very light and easy to clear, because the weather has been so cold. But even though the air temp is below freezing, the sun can be strong enough to melt the surface of the snow, which then freezes again and creates a crust. And if the air temp is just around freezing or just above, you get that gloppy, heavy snow that's well-nigh impossible to shovel easily. Yrgh.

I wish you luck with your new Art Form. ;-)