Last night the winter storm Nemo hit Providence with a vengeance. Most of the state is without power, but I am in one of the few fortunate zones to still have power this morning. Last night the governor ordered people to stay off the streets (or face imprisonment and a $500 fine!) but there were still morons trying to pull their minivans into their driveways already covered with 1.5 feet of snow. Around 9pm, right as the worst of the storm was beginning to hit, I walked a friend home who lived about a half mile away. Despite the howling winds and sideways-blowing snow, there were drunk college kids everywhere. It was actually pretty funny. But once the trees on the street started snapping and sending huge branches to the ground, most people headed indoors. Kaipo was in dog heaven. He didn’t seem to notice the winds and wanted to join in on every snowball fight. By the time we got back home, the winds were blowing both of us near side-ways so we quickly scurried inside to bear down for the rest of the night.
The next morning, we headed out to survey the damage. We opened the front door (my door is elevated 4ft off the ground with some steps) and saw evidence of the snowdrifts:
Snow backed up at the door
But once we headed out to the street you could really get a sense of the amount of snow that accumulated overnight.
View of my street: you can see the snow height at the garbage can
My car is under there somewhere…
Even Kaipo doesn’t look pleased
I’m not really sure how long it’s going to take the city to get everything back to normal, but I know I don’t have much time to wait. I have to leave Providence at 3:30am Monday morning to catch my flight to Hawaii (ahh I love saying that) and I have to drive Kaipo up to Boston on Sunday (JVance graciously offered to watch Kaipo while I’m gone since my bro, who was going to come up and care for Kaipo, just got a job!). Thankfully I live on a street that is one of the first to get plowed, and I live about a half mile from the interstate. The only problem is shoveling out my car and the driveway! I’m having my birthday party today so my friends might get introduced to a new party game: shovel out Laura’s car!
We only have one lousy shovel in my apartment and I can’t get to a store for another. Suggestions on how to quickly shovel out a driveway?
I hope all of you in the areas affected by the storm be smart and stay safe. Stay off the roads! Go play in the snow instead!
Keefmac
No wonder the boy’s not happy- chilly tackle in the snow- singing soprano this afternoon!
Carolina John
You know you’re not in Hawaii anymore when……
Oscar Yeager
As far as clearing the driveway, what I do is run a long garden hose from the drain valve on the water heater and spray hot water on the driveway until you’re good to go. Throw down some ice-melt on top so it won’t re-freeze. An even better way is to place a lawn sprinkler ( One that sprays back and forth ) in the middle of the driveway just as it starts snowing. Of course it helps if you have a 75 gallon tank like me, but you may get by with a 50 if you crank the thermostat on it all the way up. Works like a charm.
Brian J
I realize this comment is a little late…when I lived in DC, not many people owned a shovel. I saw people using cookie baking sheets to shovel. their cars out.