Still loving the snow!

[Cosmic_Charlie]

After living in the snow for over 60 years we got a snow blower last year. Thing starts right up even in the bitter cold with just a couple pulls. We are getting our share this year. Probably a good 18" on the ground now. Makes the cross country skiers and snowmobilers happy. I do not mind the snow so much but detest the subzero temps and wind. Only a couple months until the spring Equinox though.

[jdfoxinc]

Snow is a 4 letter word like work.

[Ithaca Gunner]

Count me in with the ''older I get the less appealing it is'' crowd. Some winters we get hammered, but most we get maybe 24-36'' in a season. Both North and South of us get more snow, and they're welcome to it. I've got a 24'' Cub Cadet snow blower that takes care of 90% of the mess so shoveling isn't a big problem, and a neighbor with a big 4 wheeler buggy with a plow who enjoys being out plowing and sometimes beats me to the chore. We keep him and family in sticky buns for the effort.

Driving in it, both our trucks have 4wd, so it's not much of a problem unless we really get dumped on. The idiots with front wheel drive without snow tires are a problem every year though, thinking they can go out in it with no worries. And the ones who think, ''There's just a little bit of snow on the road, I don't need to put it in 4x4...'' Those are the ones I see stuck off the side of the roads a lot.

[kbstenberg]

Snow for me means FUN. Sitting on my ATV watching my 4' snow blower through that stream of snow 10 yards away. And seeing the wind take some of it and put it downwind.
Snow also means cold which means ICE FISHING. Did i ever tell you about the 10 lb. ice i caught.

[brass410]

Snow is not so appealing as it once was, I like to see first snow, best if its a real dump 12" or more It makes everything seem clean and fresh and silent as it hangs on the trees. But then comes the wind, and the cold -25 to -40 windchills in the -50 sometimes for days thats what make the southern climates seem fairer to this older body now.

[Gator 45/70]

1/4'' of snow will shut-down this parish.

[dannyd]

The best snow I have even seen was on TV when we had rabbit ears.

[MrWolf]

DG - I totally agree with your outlook. Love my mountain place, just wish it was warmer as these old joints and bones and injuries don't like the cold. Love my solitude and luckily met a woman who loves it here also. Life is good. Well, last three weeks have been tough with no furnace but we will survive until a new one gets here due to supply issues.
Ron

[Der Gebirgsjager]

No furnace.....! No wonder you're cold. Let me say, Sir, that you need to get some wood heat going.

Even after your furnace is installed you should look into a woodstove or pellet stove. To me, although currently a viable option, pellet stoves are less desirable as you have to buy pellets. A beat up old VN War vet who lives down the road about 1/3 mile from me gave up on firewood two years ago and bought a pellet stove. Buys the pellets several tons at a time in 40 lb. plastic bags. I got a call from him a few days ago and he asked me to stop by as he was down to several hours of supply in the stove hopper, had strained/sprained a groin muscle and needed me to carry several bags into the house from his shed.

But, as they say, nothing in life is really free. Firewood also involves having access to some forest land, chainsaw and related paraphernalia, but I don't believe that there is any other comparable form of heat. I just feels so good. And, someday, alternatives like electricity, oil, propane may be scarce, expensive, or not there at all. Good to have a backup-- which actually applies to so many things like food, clothing, automobiles.

The best thing is that you have a Lady who likes being there. Good ladies are harder to find than good friends, although they can be one and the same.


DG

[fixit]

I saw today that the news outlets are giving obligatory warnings to the "older folks" among us to not shovel snow for fear of a heart attack. I always find these things amusing, because I do things through the rest of the year that your average 60 year old shouldn't do, so why would I stop when it's cold? Know your limit, and stay within it!

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Yup...like Clint said, "A man's got to know his limitations." As we get older time does take it's toll, but just keep plugging away at your own pace. If it doesn't feel right, don't do it.

DG

[country gent]

while I like seeing the snow it makes everything look so clean and bright, Since Ive been in the chair Ive learned that a couple inches of snow to go thru really drains the lithium ion batteries on the chair a lot faster. Using the chair an a shovel to push snow even more so. Make me wonder what it will do to these new electric vehicles having to push thru wet heavy snow.

[georgerkahn]

The older you get the less appealing it gets!!

Amen! I used to love X-country skiing and snow-shoeing; playing in it when children were young... But, now in my 70s I am thankful ever so much for a Kubota tractor with a rear blade to drag the snow, along with an articulated plow blade in front to push the piles! What has troubled me is "in the old days" from U S Thanksgiving time through to 1st week of May, there'd be a quite substantial accumulation of snow. In areas where it was too deep (many!) to drive through, the locals call it "Desolation Dust" -- no moving (unless you, perhaps, had a snow machine) until Spring. *NOW* we get several inches of snow; it warms and melts -- lots of ICE -- and then the temp drops for a repeat; and, another repeat...

[WRideout]

When I was a youngster growing up in Southern CA, we could occasionally see snow on the uppermost parts of the Coast Foothills. We had to drive to it to play in the snow. While we were busy making snowmen and throwing snowballs, we would mingle with the other visitors who mostly came from states like Nebraska, Michigan, or New York. I wanted to ask, but never did, "Why did you leave home just to come here and play in the snow?" Never figured that one out.

Now I am fully adapted to living in the frozen north (SW Pennsylvania.) My wife is always too cold, I am always too warm. I tell her I have the metabolism of a bear.

Wayne

[CastingFool]

I like to tell people I would rather snowblower our driveway than mow my lawn. Upon hearing that, a look of unbelief covers their face. When asked why, I always reply that it takes me a little over an hour to clear out our 100ft long driveway. It takes me 3-1/2 hours to mow our 1-1/2 acre yard, and have to put up with the heat, bugs and sometimes get scratched by the shrubbery. None if that happens while snowblowing, and it takes considerably less time.

[dannyd]

DG - I totally agree with your outlook. Love my mountain place, just wish it was warmer as these old joints and bones and injuries don't like the cold. Love my solitude and luckily met a woman who loves it here also. Life is good. Well, last three weeks have been tough with no furnace but we will survive until a new one gets here due to supply issues.
Ron

I escaped from that part of world 46 years ago; Nothing like having to maintain a coal furnace to motivate a person.

[Idaho45guy]

While we were busy making snowmen and throwing snowballs, we would mingle with the other visitors who mostly came from states like Nebraska, Michigan, or New York. I wanted to ask, but never did, "Why did you leave home just to come here and play in the snow?" Never figured that one out.

If you've never been to Nebraska, I can understand why you wouldn't know why they would leave the snow of Nebraska to play in the snow of California. California is a beautiful state with the most diverse ecosystems of any state except perhaps Washington.

Nebraska is, well... Diverse is not a word often associated with Nebraska. Great folks, great beef, but a little lacking in natural beauty.

[Lloyd Smale]

I like to tell people I would rather snowblower our driveway than mow my lawn. Upon hearing that, a look of unbelief covers their face. When asked why, I always reply that it takes me a little over an hour to clear out our 100ft long driveway. It takes me 3-1/2 hours to mow our 1-1/2 acre yard, and have to put up with the heat, bugs and sometimes get scratched by the shrubbery. None if that happens while snowblowing, and it takes considerably less time.

you should try the UP for a winter. I blow snow 2 or 3 times a week on average and only mow my grass maybe once a week in the summer. Sit bundled up in the cab of my tractor blowing snow and sit on my rider in the summer with a beer in the cup holder. when i was young i actually like winter more then summer because winter meant snowmobile racing but at 65 ill take 70 degree summer all year round.

[kodiak1]

3 1/2 hours with the skid steer (1845 Case) and a 7' Blower to clear the yard and road way.
Crazy man -4F and nice little breeze to boot.

[Hogtamer]

Thoreaue-esque Mountain Hunter! Except no one can be at such peace with themselves without being at peace with the Father.