Driveways can be challenges for fearless adventurers in winter
Some people view their driveways as just a paved path for their cars to reach the house or the garage. For others, maybe those of us who view life from a slightly different perspective, they can be adventures.
When the snow falls most folks drag out snowblowers and shovels to scrap the asphalt surfaces clean. They will spend hours at the task of clearing, blowing and dumping snow.
You may already know the cause of the recent snowfall and the terrible snow storms headed to our area this winter.
If you remember, for years a bright, shiny new snowblower sat virtually unused in my garage.
I invested several hundred hard-earned dollars into that snowblower only after four or five consecutive winters of repeated snowstorms, and one or two blizzards. The old Mustang I owned at the time experienced cardiac arrest every time it snowed. My driveway was an insurmountable obstacle, a Mt. Everest, to the slipmobile.
As expected, immediately after I unloaded the snow blower in the driveway, the next several winters were as mild as a Florida spring.
During that time, there probably were two, three maximum, occasions when there was enough snowfall to warrant firing up that snowblower, with its electric-start, 6 forward speeds, two reverse gears, and all-wheel drive.
It was, I admit, an impressive piece of machinery. Which made it even more frustrating to see it sitting unused in the corner of the garage, year after year, with dust gathering on its gleaming metal.
Then I sold it. Of course, we’ve been hit with significant amounts of snow every winter since. Everyone knows if you are prepared for an event, it will never happen – until the day, the hour, that you aren’t ready.
There are other ways, however, of doing battle with the forces of evil, in nature or on other levels. As an example, consider the folks who live down South. They simply ignore the fact that snow actually exists.
The Southerner’s method of snow removal is called sunshine. Just wait until the darn stuff melts. Most of the time snow and ice will be gone within hours anyway. It works for them, although it creates a bit of temporary inconvenience.
Being a practical person, it seems to me that as long as you can maneuver your car in and out of the driveway, there’s no reason to spend hours digging it out.
The old newspaper delivery van, which we rescued from the junkyard and repaired, has 4-wheel drive. It drives like a tank, and goes anywhere.
With 173,000 miles under its belt, the van is just barely past the broken-in stage.
I figure it will take a near-blizzard to bog the van down. The 6 to 8 inches of snow that fell during the week wasn’t even a challenge.
The van’s four big tires chewed it up and spit it out. Let it snow. Bring it on.
My wife says it’s just another example of boys and their toys.
Or, when we get stuck later this winter in a six-foot snowdrift in the driveway, she will refer to my tendency to take on such challenges as just plain stupidity.
Now that I am semi-prepared for snow storms, it remains to be seen if the gods of winter have noticed. The snowblower episode brought them to their knees in laughter at my frustration year after year, I’m sure.
If the curse remains true, several feet of snow is gathering now in the clouds over Canada, enough to defeat any 4-wheel drive vehicle. It’s probably already on its way.
We might need to brace ourselves for a wintry blast of snow and blizzard-like conditions in the weeks ahead
If Southerners can wait for snow to melt, so can I. April isn’t that far away.
Mike Ellis is the editor of the Herald-Standard. His e-mail address is: mellis@heraldstandard.com.