A Liquid and a Solid

January 18, 2022 Water is a strange thing. We are getting a LOT of precipitation these days, of all types. When in the form of rain, what does it do? It leaks into the tower, natch. GRRRR. And, into the basement via the windows, god knows how.

Snow, we’ve got that. Ice and sleet, that too. Rain on top? Sure thing. Sunny days and very cold nights, yup. And day after day after day…. Those of you blessed with paved driveways can rejoice in the sunny days, where the ice and snow melt away on the warm black surface, perhaps with the help of a shovel, but soon you have a lovely clear driving surface. Our neighbors with snowblowers and paved driveways are looking pretty.

Dirt driveways will never, ever give you a break. Frozen ground + water in any form will melt to a slush on top, stay frozen on the bottom and freeze overnight to a rutted, bumpy, slick iceberg that gets thicker every freeze/thaw cycle until you can barely drive or walk on it. Arghh.

Welcome to the Black Sheep Skating Rink. Every morning I am out there at 6:30 am lugging 5 gallon buckets of salted sand (free for the pick up from the town) flinging it about, trying to make 2 tracks up the driveway so the various work vehicles can make it in… a few haven’t. (Come on, it’s NH in the winter, get some better tires guys! To be fair, it is not the trucks, but the vans that tend to struggle… but still one guy slips on the ice and sheesh, we have insurance but we seriously don’t want to use it…) This is killing me, and it’s only January!