Friday, April 18, 2014

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.  

3 comments:

  1. You will be glad to see the last of the snow. Will all this moisture create flooding or mosquito problems?

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  2. Minor flooding is a normal part of Spring (there's always water over the county road for a few days unless it's been an abnormally dry winter) and there are always mosquitoes. They help keep the riff raff from the Downer Peninsula away.

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  3. Heard on the weather you got pasted. Our snow is about gone. Still stretches of white in the woods and a pile in the front yard. Mud season is in full swing.

    the Ol'Buzzard

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