Can We Talk 2

Snow Fall of 2016

         "If there's two feet of snow on the ground in Buffalo, it's Tuesday." That was the sign on a business in New York this week. I like it. For those of us not accustomed to it, it's a showstopper. Schools have been closed since last Friday, and may not open again until this Friday, at least not until Thursday. Businesses were closed, except for a few beer joints that had employees who lived within walking distance.

         My neighbor plowed my driveway. I'm the same age as his parents who live next door. And my father is getting more feeble each month. So he plows without even asking. I wave and keep on shoveling. I spent a lot of time Sunday digging out my car, and clearing out the tire path to the plowed part. It's a long driveway. I still got it stuck at the shady end near the street, but managed after a long time to get back up to level ground and sunshine.

         My dad does his part. He cleared the front door to the driveway, and after a nap, did the back porch where he feeds the birds every day.It's a big porch. Today, he cleaned off the steps to that porch.He hasn't complained about being sore, but he's pretty strong for his age, and does a lot of yard work. He does okay for an old guy who's not too steady on his feet. (If I could just get him to wipe those feet when he gets inside, or change his shoes.)

         In defense of the school system, the county has a lot of secondary roads where buses can't travel in bad weather. And both city and county have a lot of teen drivers. They really can't take chances on the kids wrecking a vehicle coming to or leaving school. What they do on their own time is not tied to school.

         The neighbor does his own large driveway, his parents,and mine, all about the same length. He took a long time doing mine, going over it again and again, clearing a turnaround near the garage.Still it was a narrow one lane path that didn't completely clear in the shady entrance. He cleared where the street plow piled it even higher around the mailbox. We had at least 21 inches, more in the wind drifts. So he had his work cut out for him for 3 houses. Plus he has to shovel the paths and steps at his house.

         The snow won't stick around, except where it's mounded high in dirty piles in parking lots. I've seen it last into spring, like black hills in a dry asphalt lot.But spring will eventually come and make it all a memory.