Snow

With some of the first snow falls of the year occurring within the last week or so I have thought more about shoveling and snow removal in general. I kept saying to Jay before it snowed, "We really need to get a shovel before it snows, or it will snow and we will be snowed in without a shovel." And it seems to me that there is a new bylaw about shoveling your walkways within 48 hours of a snowfall in Saskatoon. The day after the first snow I headed to Walmart to pick up a shovel and some ice melt (of course it rained before it snowed so it was a skating rink under the snow). The ice melt worked very well and I got a chance to try out the new shovel the other day. It seems to work well, but we have only had a half inch of snow here or there. Thankfully we are still working on getting our base layer of snow/ice on the gravel driveway so I haven't had to attempt to shovel that. That should be fun :P

I have noticed since the last couple of snowfalls that our neighbours on either side are very keen to get out and shovel at the first available chance after the snow quits. This morning I got up and came out to the living room to look outside and the house on the east side of us hadn't shoveled yet. But by the time I was ready to go out and shovel ours (and beat them to it...), he had shoveled. The neighbours on the west side of us had also shoveled by the time I got out there. I think that this may be good motivation for me to get out and shovel shortly after the snowfall. I know it is not always possible when I have to go to work first thing in the morning, but seeing the neighbours keeping their sidewalks cleared really does inspire me to keep ours done. I am still hopeful that one of them owns a snowblower and that if we get another blizzard they will help poor little ole me dig out.