Not So Funny Now

I heard about a contest several years ago that judged silly warning labels. One that always struck me as odd was the label on a snowblower that read “Do not use snowthrower on roof.” Why is that necessary? "Obviously", I thought to myself, "some less-than-intelligent person tried this at one time and it ended badly." I don't see this warning label as silly, odd or the person who may have tried it as less-than-intelligent. Let me explain. So far this winter, we've had nearly ninety (90) inches of snowfall. It's not even the middle of January. And they say that February is when winter truly kicks in. I see snowblowers chained to chimneys...on roofs. And people use them...up on the roof. Seriously. They get so much snow up here that people actually have concerns of roofs collapsing. We have a friend whose garage roof did collapse under snow load. It was at the family property that was not their permanent dwelling. They didn't get out in time to clean off the roof, and it caved in. It's a genuine concern up here.
"How do you even function in conditions like that?" you may ask. Let me tell you. It's with this: (see photo)
That's right! This is called a Yooper Scooper. This is one of the best tools invented, next to the toaster. Be warned though. This may not work so well in all parts of the country. The snow we get in the UP is light and fluffy. Yeah, I know. Isn't all snow light and fluffy? Not like our snow. Our snow is very "dry" and powdery. An inch of our snow would weigh a fraction of what an inch of Northwest Ohio snow would weigh. To prove my point. After an eight inch snowfall here in northern Michigan, I can run my Yooper Scooper the length of the driveway piling and pushing all eight inches of it the full length of the driveway (maybe 30 feet in length). I can have the whole drive cleared in less than an hour with orders of magnitude less exhaustion, stress and strain on my body. If you want to order one and try for yourself, they were designed and are built right here in the UP. Website is here. And I've seen these used on roofs also.
Next important item is the snow tire. They make a huge difference on icy and snow covered roads. And if you can't afford snow tires and your all season tires still have good tread, try tire siping. For a nominal fee, most tire shops up here will sipe your tires. They have machines that will actually make thin cuts across the treads of your tires. This is proven to provide more traction on icy and snowy roads. Never heard of such a thing until we moved up here. Yoopers seem to be pretty practical. When we get a few years of UP living under our belts, maybe we'll invest in a "plow-truck", also very common up here. Most are circa 1970's trucks with nice plow blades on the front.
All in all, I can't complain. We do live on the side of a hill that has a substantially inclined road to access our driveway. And we have had instances where we couldn't get our vehicles up the road. We actually have a place at the base of the hill where we can park and hike up to the house (1/4 mile maybe). Only until a township plow truck comes along and plows and sands/salts the road (which may take a couple days). I just recently put snow tires on my car and I haven't had the opportunity to try them out on a decent snowfall yet. Maybe my hiking days are over! It's all a part of learning how to deal with a new environment. You adapt and adjust. And we'll survive. Oh, and we're supposed to get more snow this weekend.