February 11, 2018

Snow.

The forecast says we’ve received the last of the snow that was predicted for Chicagoland this weekend. The skies are starting to clear a little bit. Forecasters are saying we’ll see temperatures above freezing in a day or two.

This photo was taken yesterday morning after the plows made their first pass early in the morning. The wall runs along the embankment of the nearby METRA tracks.

Another 6 to 8 inches fell last night. Folks are cleaning out again today. With three separate bands of snow passing through since Friday, some folks waited until today to start cleaning off their cars.

The heavily traveled streets have all been cleared by the city, but the side streets haven’t really been cleared yet. There’s a lot of street with just the tracks of multiple cars passing through.

Some folks have cleared out their traditional parking spot on the street, and in the tradition of Chicagoans, they call “dibs” after cleaning out their area. Dibs are marked with lawn furniture, shovels, children, and in the case, blue tubs.

One never takes a spot that someone has called dibs on. In some parts of the city that might result with a brick on your front seat or something. Don’t take the spot when someone calls dibs.

I’ve been enjoying walking around the surrounding neighborhoods. As people clean their sidewalks, shovel out their cars, or sweep their stoop, they seem pleasant enough. A lot of people have still wished me a good afternoon. That’s nice.

I have to admit that while winter is not my favorite season by any stretch of the imagination (it comes in at number three on the survey), the snow this winter isn’t really bothering me. It’s not a lot, at least by the standards set by my hometown (eastern Lake Ontario snowbelt) and more importantly, Earl and I have a condo and our Jeeps are parked in a heated parking garage.

I don’t mind snow, I just don’t like shoveling and plowing out driveways that are a couple of hundred feet long.

We are approaching mid-February. Spring is not a horrible amount of time away. We’ll be loving the sun soon enough.

In the meantime, say hello to a neighbor.