Northern Winters

Sure, they're cold. I can take the cold. They don't get a ton of snow like back east, and they certainly don't get any storms (at least not in the towns I've been in) at all. They do get snow often, but just an inch or two at at time and because once the temp goes down, it stays down, the snow continues to accumulate. No problem. I can handle that. What confuses me is the fact that they do not plow in the north. Yes, you heard me right. They rarely plow. Matter of fact, I have hardly ever seen a plow. Not because there isn't enough to plow. There is at times, more than enough to plow. But they don't. I've heard from locals that it isn't in the budget to do too much plowing. WTF? We are in a climate that has winter 9 months of the year...why the hell isn't it in the budget is my response.

So instead we end up with ruts of snow, snow piled up on all roads, just like driving in sand dunes. Some of the snow is so churned up it's like brown sugar. There are layers of ice and snow under the layers of ice and snow. I just don't understand the thinking behind it. Seems rather simple to me - when it snows, you plow the snow. That's what snowplows are for - for PLOWING SNOW.

And if I hear "Welcome to life in the north" one more time, I shall scream. What a lousycop-out.