Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Some Snow Is Brutally Hard

We've had lots of snow. It gets everywhere and we do our best to scoop it.

Then it gets warm, it turns to slush. Then it refreezes. Then the city comes along and pushes it up against the driveway or the sidewalk.

At this point, when you encounter it, it's no longer the light fluffy stuff that people like about snow. Now it's hard, mashed together, tough as nails, thick as as a brick, and extremely heavy.

I've hit it at the midway point -- between fluffy and impervious -- and the snow blower has a hard time getting through it but it can be done, with perseverance and lots of up and down motions with your arms.

But when it's impervious, that's precisely what the term is meant to imply. You could not cut through it with a welding torch. The snow blower doesn't stand a chance, because all it has is iron blades. They're not made of diamond. I can't get it taken out.

And as far as being heavy. There's nothing in the world as heavy as snow. Boulders, even your house itself. Your house could blow away in a tornado. But a snow boulder will still be setting there after the Apocalypse.

What I can't believe is that the sun does eventually wear this stuff down and kills it. It's a real testimony to the strength of suns everywhere.