December 2007 was exceptionally snowy both in the Boston area and in southern Maine. I think Boston was within an inch of being the snowiest December on record, and Portland had about the third snowiest December on record.
It’s very hard to tell how deep snow is without being in it. Once grass is covered you can’t really tell what’s under the uniform blanket of white nor how far down it is. Two weekends ago the snowbank by our driveway in Casco was shoulder high on me. That’s not how deep the snow was on the flat, just how high it was piled by the plow. But I had to shovel through it so the oil delivery driver would be able to get up to the oil filler pipe. On the flat the snow was more like hip deep on me.
After I got that path dug through the snowbank, I started a path to the left of the lilac bush. There’s a retaining wall at the edge of the driveway there, but there’s not much of a snowbank; so it will be easier to shovel that path out after the next storm. Even though it doesn’t come out at driveway level, the oil person will be able to get up to the filler pipe without wading through deep snow.
Here’s what the driveway and garage door look like:
Maybe you can judge the depth of snow by where it comes compared to the lowest branch on the Baldwin apple tree:
Finally, a quiz: can you find the Weber grill on the back deck?
