I start here with the pretty stuff.
This twelve-second video clip is the view out my studio window when the fat, fluffy flakes fly. Regardless of the work it brings to keep the walkways and driveways clear for safe travel, this classic snow falling look is calm and peaceful to watch from a nicely heated home.
Next up is a movie of the work portion this recent storm brought me. On prior occasions I was under-dressed for blowing snow. I geared up with mask, goggles, super mittens and, well, I was quickly overheated and had to shed some of what you see in this video.
snow blowing from Ted Dunlap on Vimeo.
When we took on this new homestead I recognized the area I wanted to maintain was far too big for my body to do with a snow shovel. I researched snow blowers and contacted Snow Blowers Direct with a pretty good idea of what I wanted. Two nice things happened to me at that point.
1) The nice man looked up the typical snowfall rates for our home, listened to me describing my age-related reduced ability to wrestle tools and recommended a smaller, less expensive snow blower than what I had in mind. He furthermore cemented the Ariens brand as the best for me. I thank him every time I use it.
2) Because I was planning and purchasing in August, long before most people worry about moving snow, I was able to get a last-season model with no significant changes for a couple hundred dollars less than the new one.
It was drop-shipped to my house. Assembly was simple, well documented and easy for me to do, as was learning to drive. Pull-rope starting has not worked for me, but plug the extension cord into the socket, push the red button for half a second and it fires up every time. Lovely.
