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After the storm — update with photos

Posted by Richard on December 24, 2006

In the aftermath of Denver’s holiday blizzard, three people died from shoveling snow. I’m not one of them — although I think I came closer than I’d like. I went through a lot of ibuprofen after clearing my sidewalk and digging my car out. I haven’t even tried to get out the back door to shovel the long walk to the alley.

Driving isn’t too bad on the main roads, except that the right-hand lane occasionally disappears because the plow drivers, for no apparent reason, swerved to the left. The entrance ramps on the interstate are a bit of a problem. Many are still somewhat snow-packed, and the "acceleration lane" is plowed clear for at most 30-50 yards. That makes merging into 60-mph traffic a bit of a challenge. Some of the exits are problematic, too. I saw a guy blocking an exit ramp completely. He’d obviously tried to exit too fast, lost it on the snow and ice, and buried the nose of his car into a 4-foot wall of snow.

It’s not a good time to go grocery shopping. The parking lots are a disaster. Inside, the shelves are a disaster, too. The supermarket I went to today had had its produce section practically stripped bare, and the milk coolers held just a few forlorn cartons of fat-free, 2%, and soy milk. Couldn’t find any egg nog at all, dammit.

Enough bitching. Here are some snapshots. Apologies to those of you on dial-up — but I tried to keep the file sizes reasonable (~30-40KB each).

2006 blizzard - neighbor shoveling driveway
As soon as the snow slacked off, my neighbor began shoveling her driveway. It took her all afternoon.
2006 blizzard - snow cornice on Pathfinder
The snow cornice on the back of my Pathfinder is evidence of the strong winds.

2006 blizzard - yardstick measuring snow depth
Here’s the depth in the middle of my front yard, under a big maple tree. It’s probably a bit deeper in the back.

2006 blizzard - deck
Looking out the back door at my deck. There are three steps under the snowdrift at bottom center.

2006 blizzard - back yard
Looking across my back yard to the alley. At some point, I’ll have to shovel a path to the dumpster.

2006 blizzard - side yard
It drifted up against the gate a bit in the side yard.

2006 blizzard - shoveling walk
The neighbor kid shoveling the walk. He wasn’t very good, but maybe I should have tried to hire him.
That’s enough — you get the idea. Hope your Christmas is merry, but not quite as white!
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