With yet another fresh blanket of white stuff to wallow in, Estevanites will be excused if they decide to throw down their shovels in a sign of protest against Mother Nature and her cruel cadre of snow bunnies.
The arrival of another batch of it over the weekend and into Monday, does not bode well for local snow clearing machinery and personnel that have already been working overtime, sometimes in extreme conditions, in an effort to clear paths for our local traffic, especially on the main routes.
But, have no fear, our city's public works crews and contractors will attack the new snowdrifts with as much enthusiasm as they did the other 15 snow events we've experienced in the Energy City this winter.
That leads us to this week's suggestion for local residents.
Stay out of the way.
Try to avoid the graders, trucks and snowblower when they visit your area of the city. It will make their work go more efficiently. Naturally there will be occasions when this will be impossible, especially as they work in the more central business areas of the city. In those cases, slow down, be aware of your immediate surroundings, watch for the large trucks that are receiving the snow to haul it to the dump areas. Also, keep your eyes and ears open for the contracted snow removal equipment that finds its way onto business parking lots and driveways.
The operators of this equipment are trained and are always observant, but accidents do happen on occasion, especially in the early mornings before sunrise and when the unplowed streets become encrusted with ice and sloppy snow trails.
As our city grows in numbers and popularity, there are ever-increasing demands made of our snow removal equipment. There are more streets and avenues to attack now than ever before with about the same amount of equipment as there was five years ago.
It is difficult to be patient when you can barely move out of your driveway thanks to the packed snow, but that's exactly what we'll have to be because of the relentless nature of this year's snowfalls.
In the meantime, our best advice moving forward is to not be discouraged. Keep fit by continuing to work your worn out snow shovel or blower on the neighbourhood sidewalks while our public works teams attempt to keep up with the demands posed to them on city streets.
We must also realize that within a couple of months, the possibility of some rapidly melting snow and ice will wreak another unique form of havoc on our local infrastructure and clean-up teams.
Let's just say, the best is yet to come, but at least it will come with longer days and warmer temperatures.
