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?

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.

[Catrin]

Roadie Gal 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.

[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.