A physical activity I no longer do

[shootingstar]

..and haven't done in the past um...20 yrs.: shovelling snow or chopping ice.

How about you? :o

I just haven't lived in a townhouse or house at all. Or have lived in a balmier part of Canada.

[spokewench]

Oh, I'll be shoveling for the next couple of days. It started flurrying this morning and is perhaps supposed to dump 10 inches by tomorrow morning.

Flagstaff at 7,000 feet!

[indysteel]

I typcially end up shoveling a fair amount. I can usually work from home when the weather is bad, while my husband typically has to go into his job. So, while he's busy at work, I feel compelled to get as much snow cleared as I physically can so that he doesn't bear the entire burden of it.

And of course when I was still single and owned a home, I cleared a lot of snow. My garage let out onto an alley that was never plowed. There were a few times that I shoveled a good portion of it (at least half of block's worth) simply to get my car out. It would take the better part of a day. A few times, I was able to flag down a private plow for some help--but I couldn't count on that.

[roadie gal]

I haven't shovelled in 6 months. That's a LONG time around here.

It should start snowing any time now...

Here's a picture from last year with the snow up to the second floor of the house. A little later that day I shovelled out 2 second story windows.
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii211/sandakat/P1030289.jpg

[Catrin]

Roadie Gal :eek: :eek: Wow!

Wow Indy, that is impressive! When I first moved to Indy I rented a house in Speedway for almost 2 years - there was a lot of shoveling...

This might be the year I finally get a shovel for my apartment, especially if it is like last year. The problem is when they plow the drive and the snow gets piled up in front of my car...

Spokewrench, have fun! I love Flagstaff in the summer, haven't seen it in the winter.

[indysteel]

When I lived downtown, there was always this quandry: Do I park on the street and try to shovel my way out when the plows bury the car or do I park in my garage and likely have to shovel my way out? I usually opted for the latter because at least my car wasn't going to get hit there in the meantime? But it was a drag.

For those of you who get far more snow than we do in Indiana, you have my utmost respect. I don't know how you deal with it.

[Catrin]

...
For those of you who get far more snow than we do in Indiana, you have my utmost respect. I don't know how you deal with it.

+100 on this. I am already ready for March...guess my Southern genes are starting to kick in in my old age :)

[limewave]

For those of you who get far more snow than we do in Indiana, you have my utmost respect. I don't know how you deal with it.

We hibernate.

One thing I did very little of this year and hoping to not do at all again is raking leaves. We have plenty of leaves every fall, but my back is so sore afterwards. I raked for 1 hour this year which resulted in 2 days of immobility.

Previous years I spent two 8-hour days raking. I'm to the point that I would rather skip a hair appointment and eat scrambled eggs a few extra nights a week in order to hire a lawn service.

[jessmarimba]

When I lived downtown, there was always this quandry: Do I park on the street and try to shovel my way out when the plows bury the car or do I park in my garage and likely have to shovel my way out? I usually opted for the latter because at least my car wasn't going to get hit there in the meantime? But it was a drag.

For those of you who get far more snow than we do in Indiana, you have my utmost respect. I don't know how you deal with it.

Ugh. For me downtown, it was "do I park in the street and risk someone sliding into my car, or park in the driveway off the alley and risk not getting out?"

One volvo on the street near me was smashed to half it's size after someone left it parked on the road during our last slew of storms.

But I do all of the shoveling. It's just me in the house, so...
Plus the city requires that we shovel the sidewalks even though they almost never plow our street. Fortunately we haven't had a really deep snow here since I moved.

[Irulan]

Two words.
Snowblower
Skiing.

[spokewench]

Two words.
Snowblower
Skiing.

Snowblowers help - but there is always more shoveling to do. The deck where you can't take a snowblower, around the hot tub, a path in the back yard where there are steps to get to the wood pile, the roof when it is too deep and needs to be shoveled. The ice berm that the snowblower cannot handle; and everything when there is no longer any room to blow snow! shovel, move to another area!

The bottom snow left when the snowblower is done. There is always a bit of a layer that will turn to ice unless you shovel.

[skhill]

Really, I don't mind shoveling snow all that much. But then, we don't get all that much here, and I don't have all that much sidewalk to clear. I try to view it as seasonal strength training...

But today's seasonal strength training is leaf raking. I wish I could give it up! Leaf season is a lot more strenuous than snow shoveling season here.

[lph]

There is always a bit of a layer that will turn to ice unless you shovel.

Indeed. I hate hate hate it when the snowplow guy leaves this thick layer of snow. It's just peachy for maybe two days, then it impacts into rutted ice which is hell to bike over, and it doesn't melt until May. Can't he just plow it properly in the first place!

I like shovelling snow. And I'm good at it too :) Our driveway is just perfect when I've been at it, not so much when my teenage son does it, though I appreciate the effort!

[Crankin]

I don't shovel a lot. We have an 850 ft. shared driveway on a steep hill that we get plowed. DH has an enormous snowblower for the driveway in front of the house. Sometimes I assist by shoveling around the perimeter where he can't go. But most of the time he does it, as he often goes out at 6 AM after a storm to do the work and he is obsessive about his "work." If he is away, I shovel enough to get my car out. Our streets are plowed very well.
I used to shovel a lot more.

[Irulan]

Snowblowers help - but there is always more shoveling to do. The deck where you can't take a snowblower, around the hot tub, a path in the back yard where there are steps to get to the wood pile, the roof when it is too deep and needs to be shoveled. The ice berm that the snowblower cannot handle; and everything when there is no longer any room to blow snow! shovel, move to another area!

The bottom snow left when the snowblower is done. There is always a bit of a layer that will turn to ice unless you shovel.

Yes, but when you get 8" of Pacific concrete in one dump, a snowblower beats the heck of shoveling a driveway. If you do it right with the temps, the tiny layer left behind will melt during the day. Or throw a little ice melter on it. I keep the drive clear for my UPS driver who loves me for it.

Too deep? Maybe you need a bigger snowblower. :D We've never regretted our 24" two stage purchase. Sure we have to still clear the hot tub deck and the walk to the door but it's still a no brainer to me.

[indysteel]

Yeah; we have leaf raking, too. Typically about 10-12 hours worth. I love our yard though; it's worth it. Thankfully, our town offers curbside pick up. We don't need to bag them or anything. DH and I use a big tarp to haul them from the backyard to the curb. It's a bit of a pain, but at least it's something we do together.

[ny biker]

When we had two blizzards in one week, I learned that it's easier to shovel snow for 5 hours than it is to ride a bike for 5 hours.

I live in a condo but still have to shovel around my car. Then I wind up shoveling around other people's cars because it's unreserved parking and I know I will get stuck with the worst space when I leave and come back again.

[shootingstar]

I only have memories of shovelling several times per week the driveway, etc. when I was a teenager from ages 11 -21 yr. Included chopping the ice, to make things safe, accessible.

We had to do this..mother too busy with housework and father worked evening shift until from 5:00 pm 1:00am...then he had to sleep for a few hrs. in afternoon. He had to get the car into the driveway in early hrs. of the morning.

I don't live in the suburbs, so I don't know if teens regularily shovel snow these days. Or maybe they take pauses to check their ipod..

[Norse]

Shovel snow - yes.
Snowblow - yes.
Battle ice dams - yes.

Rake leaves - no. It's just too much. We live in a neighborhood that is practically a forest. Had to have a service come out 4 times this fall, and each time the yard was coated in leaves. Different trees drop at different times.

[Irulan]

so I don't know if teens regularily shovel snow these days. Or maybe they take pauses to check their ipod..

Nope, at least not that I know of. I grew up in Chicago where it was a regular occurrence to have a teen show up at the front door with a shovel and "shovel your walk for a few bucks?".

You'd think with the dumps we get around here that it would be easy money for an enterprising teen. In twenty years here in the PNW I've not seen it once, even in our biggest snows.

[Reesha]

Indeed. I hate hate hate it when the snowplow guy leaves this thick layer of snow. It's just peachy for maybe two days, then it impacts into rutted ice which is hell to bike over, and it doesn't melt until May. Can't he just plow it properly in the first place!

I like shovelling snow. And I'm good at it too :) Our driveway is just perfect when I've been at it, not so much when my teenage son does it, though I appreciate the effort!

That's interesting... when I was in Sweden for two weeks in March of 2010, I was surprised to discover that everyone had studded tires and pretty much all the roads that weren't highways or town-to-town were just left with snow and ice on them. It was up to the people to drive sanely, not the government to clean them off perfectly. So many people don't know how to deal with snow and ice in the USA and it frustrates me.

I miss the snow, outdoor speed skating in Lake Placid, cross-country skiing, sledding and yes even SHOVELING. Winter in LP was magic. The very best!

[roadie gal]

Our driveway is 350 ft long, so no snowblower for us. But we have to shovel the berm that the city plow leaves every time it snows. I swear the city plow waits until the driveways are all done then they go by and do the streets, leaving huge, rock-like berms for us to clear by hand.

Just for grins, another picture from last winter. This is our driveway in mid March. The car is parked about halfway down the driveway, facing the street.

http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii211/sandakat/P1030292-1.jpg

[Irulan]

You must be in Tahoe.
Our city plow drivers will lift the blade so there's no berm if you flag your driveway. Most people around here with drives that long use a ATV/Gator with a plow, or hire a plow guy.

We get lots of blowing/drifting here. So, sometimes even if they plow, the wind fills everything in. We've had drifts so high that we could walk up on top of our house.

[indysteel]

Our driveway is 350 ft long, so no snowblower for us. But we have to shovel the berm that the city plow leaves every time it snows. I swear the city plow waits until the driveways are all done then they go by and do the streets, leaving huge, rock-like berms for us to clear by hand.

Just for grins, another picture from last winter. This is our driveway in mid March. The car is parked about halfway down the driveway, facing the street.

http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii211/sandakat/P1030292-1.jpg

Oh my goodness. I will never complain about shoveling ever again.

[Owlie]

Holy cow.

I haven't done much snow-shoveling the last couple years, because I've been in dorms/apartment complexes when the heavy snow falls, where I don't have a driveway or sidewalk to shovel. I do, however, do it at home if I happen to be there when it snows.

[goldfinch]

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-e7ybfNQ1r0Y/SLF2jau9W0I/AAAAAAAAB84/K9i7hsw8uvM/s512/lake07%252520032.jpg

After my spouse had a hand injury I did all the snowblowing and shoveling.

Then I became a snowbird. :)

[Irulan]

After my spouse had a hand injury I did all the snowblowing and shoveling.

Then I became a snowbird. :)


We bought ours the fall DH had a horrible bike accident and was very seriously laid up. That December we got 5 feet in a week and there was a run on them at the stores.... and we were all set. I feel really burly when I put on the carhartts and fire that sucker up.

[shootingstar]

I don't recall disliking leaf raking but it's been so long. I loved the fall time to do it. And definitely I would prefer to rake leaves for 1-2 hrs. vs. shovelling snow.

One thing for certain, those leaf blowers are a polluting, noisy monsters.

Wow, some big massive piles in some of these areas. Roadgirl I think there were snow drifts like that in suburbs last winter. But normally that depth isn't until one gets into the mountains for our area. The snow just blows around alot more because of flat prairie..which can be serious in high winds.

[spokewench]

Not too bad - 3 inches heavy wet snow last night when I came in; just getting ready to go shovel looks like about 4 inches this morning to get out. Thank you snow plow driver, doesn't look like you bermed me in too bad!