Spring in the U.P.

View from the front door about 8 a.m. yesterday. I measured -- the snow on the railing was a little over 10 inches high. The average new snow depth on the ground was 14 inches. It finally quit snowing around noon. I know what caused it. People across the upper Midwest can curse me. The day before I'd mentioned to the S.O. that it was about time to put my cross country skis and snowshoes back in storage because I wouldn't be using them again this spring.  

The S.O. warning Billy (the grader operator) not to go up to the end of the driveway to turn around where he usually does. We'd had enough warm weather for a serious soft spot to develop and did not want to risk the grader sinking into mud. The snow was so greasy he was having trouble keeping the machine moving as it was. 

There are days when I think I'd love to have this job -- the machine looks like it would be fun to play with. And then I remember that Billy has to get up at an ungodly early hour and get to the county shed before any of the roads are plowed and I go back to just enjoying watching him work. 

I hear a lot of complaints from people about snow plow drivers leaving snowbanks behind their cars. It might be hard to see in this photo, but there is no snowbank. One of the reasons I'm always saying I love the Baraga County Road Commission is the grader operators, both the current one and his predecessor, are really good about never boxing the vehicles in or blocking the path to the house. 

If we're lucky, this will be the last we see of the grader plowing snow on our road until next fall.