Blah, blah, blah... the winter blahs...

Anyone who has known me for a long time knows that I hate winter. I hate the cold. I hate the snow. I hate the ice. And as you know, the 2010/2011 winter has had PLENTY of cold, snow, and ice.

Aside from my daily walks with the dogs, who, I think, are also a bit fed up with the snow, I have TRIED to do "winter" activities.

Take a photo journey with me...

Yep, I dug the cross-country skis out, and well, they peeled like bananas. Sigh. That's okay, I didn't really want to go skiing anyway.

My snowshoes are still intact though, so I've been out on them a few times. Great hip flexor work-out, but Jean enjoys the snowshoes much more than me. As far as I'm concerned, snowshoeing is just plodding through the snow. And the idea of "flotation" is a myth. I've got the largest snowshoes I could find, 36" back country Tubbs, and if the snow wasn't already packed down, my leg would sink to knee.

So skiing failed. Snowshoeing works, but is not "fun" in my book. Next, I broke out the studded bike tires. Studded tires work great on ice, but when there is still deep snow, they get bogged down just like regular tires would. I had some good stretches of trail and some bad stretches of trail, and overall, I was longing for good old dirt.

Whine, whine, whine. I know, it's pathetic isn't it? I agree.

Moving on... while I wasn't out trying to enjoy the snow, I was trying to remove the snow. One of the best purchases I've made in recent years was my snowblower. And with all the snow we've gotten this year, it's more than paid for itself in terms of sweat equity. I've been clearing more than just the driveway and walkways, I've also been trying to keep a path open for the dogs to get to the yard to do their "business."

Unfortunately, I sucked up a big plastic garden light which got jammed in the rotary blades. I tried using various long handled instruments to remove the chunk of plastic, but no luck. As I've mentioned before, people do lose fingers and hands in snowblowers, even when they are off, so I was not about to put my precious paws in there. I will, however, stand back and allow others to risk their appendages. Besides, knowing my father-in-law and his friends, they would have gotten a great laugh if fingers went flying. Anyway, no one was hurt, and my snowblower was back in action.

With the piles of snow just getting taller and taller, it got to the point where we could NOT see out to the street, so pulling out of the driveway was very sketchy. Ultimately, I got one of those big convex mirrors, mounted to a 2x4 which I stuck in a trash barrel (classy, huh?), and problem solved.

So, it's really all just a matter of counting the days until spring, and the associated spring flooding.

Until then, I'll continue to bitch, whine and complain about winter, the cold temperatures, the snow, and the ice. Here are some random pics to illustrate my point:

 

 

I've got some more pics posted over on my photo blog--check 'em out!