To coin a phrase used by local talk radio genius Joe Soucheray in his radio show “Garage Logic” – Today I practiced a little bit (ok, a lot) of “space management”.
For those of you who are not familiar with “Garage Logic” and it’s lexicons - “Space management” is the practice of not losing any space on the driveway to a snow bank. This generally includes snow blowing to the edges of the driveway and following up by sculpting with a shovel, as well as flaring the snow bank where the driveway meets the street to give you an easier turn out of the driveway. Good space management requires both spatial planning and execution.
Since the beginning of the year – my time has been even more a premium than it usually is. So much so that throughout this time frame and despite several “smaller” snowfalls (between a “dusting” and two inches) instead of shoveling it or snow blowing it (blower is still on the fritz) - I simply drove over in and packed it down on the driveway.
I do not mind winter in Minnesota, in fact, you could say I love it! (I love each of the seasons). Yet one of my winter time pet peeves is a driveway packed with, covered in, and encroached upon with snow. I love having a clean and clear driveway.
Today (my last day off before starting back to work) – I spent my day SLOWLY chiseling, chipping, carving and scraping my driveway back to it’s blacktop surface – all the way out (side to side) back to it’s edges.
With out the snow blower – it was a lot of lifting and throwing. I would chisel large “sheets” of Titanic sinking icebergs from the surface of the driveway (large sheets of ice and compacted snow that often were three or more inches thick) and either bend over to pick them up one by hand, or attempt to capture on on my shovel..
I cleared the surface, opened the “apron” (where the driveway meets the street) and even cleaned up the edges. Without the show blower to “throw” it way out into the yard, the snow really started piling up along the driveway. Many places the snow banks are well over four feet tall.
Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI love that you love all the seasons. For me, I am glad to be here in Sacramento. I am not a fan of snow - except on the mountains providing our water supply!
I never knew my husband had an older twin brother...spooky
ReplyDeleteAdmiring a well-sculpted wintertime driveway clean-up is akin to admiring a freshly mown lawn with straight mower lines... I think it's a guy thing! Looks good.
ReplyDeleteI love this post. Absolutely everything about it. You know why!
ReplyDeleteMan, that was some heavy duty work you put in. It's funny, I just saw (literally yesterday) a news report that some 11,000 people end up in the ER for back injuries due to shoveling snow each year. Don't become a statistic Dave, lol.
ReplyDeleteWell done. I try to tell my kids about the height of accumulated snow during the winter in MN, but they don't believe me.
ReplyDeleteEva - I hope the photos and videos helped! Believe it or not, we have more snow than "up nort"..
ReplyDeleteDavid,
ReplyDeleteI noticed you "missed a spot".
Always a helper . . .
Co-Worker