Hartley and Jimmy cleared the snow from our roof yesterday. Our house is a ranch, footprint with garage is 36×50 more or less. Snow was quite deep, guessing 2 feet or more and the snow closest to the roof was heavy granular junk.
We’d watched as the neighbors cleared their roofs but two things, three things, really decided us. 1) Our neighbor whose intelligence and smarts we respect did his; 2) The chicken run roof was really bowed by the weight; 3) It’s not the likelihood, its the consequence.
Hartley and Jimmy showed up with shovels, big muscles, and a willingness to expend a fair amount of effort over a brief period of time. Took them two hours working hard and steady. They were very accommodating with our requests (please don’t block access to the chickens, leave a walkway to the house, clear a foot or so in front of the garage door so we can sandbag before breakup). We sent them home with eggs and beer in addition to their modest charge. It was worth every penny to have someone with bigger muscles take care of the work. I’d like to think that Scott and I could have gotten the job done but we certainly wouldn’t have it taken care of in two hours. We would have been too tired to do the ground clearing that Hartley and Jimmy did after.
The roof looks weirdly naked and a little indecent. Like a proper victorian lady clad in a cocktail dress. The snow piles are most impressive and oddly exciting. This evening Bing and Katie tore around the front yard in sheer corgi glee, high centering and careening around corners and over mounds. If they had a mind to, they could easily scramble up one of the snow piles and over the fence. We’ll keep an eye on them when they go out over the next few days in case that thought floats through their devious lemon brains.
Weather is still warm – high 20’s which is a great relief from the -10’s we’d had for several weeks previously. The days are noticeably longer. Breakup is still months away. We’ll see crocus in late March/April, by May parts of the backyard will be clear. I’m afraid the snow piles are going to take their time to melt, though.
The snow to the right of the house is nearly roof height. Whuf.
