2014-01-26 11.58.24
That’s right!!! 2clicksaway is 1 year old today! And to celebrate, here is a photo of your squinty eyed, snowbound author with some of his favorite snow removal equipment. For those uninitiated in the art of snow removal, let me explain what we need here in Webster (Where Life is Worth Living – except in winter) to clear snow from driveways and walkways. The big gas powered orange thing is a “snowblower” though it really doesn’t blow any snow but actually throws the snow, up to 20 feet. I only use it when there is too much snow to shovel, which is most days that it snows. The big blue shove is use to just push the snow around and the black scoop is used to remove the snow the blue shovel pushed around. The small gray shovel is used in tight spaces such as walkways and around the mailbox.
You need some warm, heavy duty cloths to operate this equipment, especially when the temperatures have been in the single digits every day as they have been. You need to wear snow pants, which fit over your regular pants, a face mask, scarf, two pairs of gloves, down jacket, hat and waterproof, heavy duty boots with good tread. It takes me almost as much time to get dressed as it does to clear the driveway, which can fit 6 Ford Focuses like mine or two normal sized cars.
Because there are only very limited number of places to put the snow you are removing, technique is very important once you are ready to start. After several years of experience, I have developed a technique that is easy, time efficient and effective. It involves all pieces of equipment and a lot of brute force. I start out by revving the snow blower engine as loud as it can in an effort to scare the snow away. This is fun but it seldom works. That’s where the brute force comes in. Once you start there are no breaks because it takes too long to take the outerwear off and put it back on again. When you’re finished you get a feeling of satisfaction for doing a good job. And then you get to do it all over again the next day because it’s been snowing every day.
2clicksaway 