Sunday, February 27, 2011

There's good news and . . .

The good news is that after an insufferable winter we've had moderating temperatures for the past couple of weeks. The snow pack is intact except for south facing slopes, where some bare ground is starting to show, but not nearly as deep as it once was. The last big storm we had was, as the weatherbots say, largely a rain event here. It snowed in ski country though, so everybody is happy. We got three inches of snow overnight, but that's trivial, and it's already melting.

The bad news is what comes next -- which has already started to show up actually. That would be mud. After a winter to remember, we're headed for an epic mud season. My waterfall is gushing, which is picturesque. But three separate rogue streams have formed that are crossing my driveway as sheets. I'm not going to get stuck in the snow again, but bogging down in the mud would be even worse.

It's impossible to keep it out of the house no matter what discipline one adopts. It sucks at your boots and well, it's just gross. Still, this is the last trial we must cross before the good stuff happens.

Then again there could still be another 2 foot blizzard .. .

7 comments:

  1. My two favorite season: autumn and mud season. Autumn because it's beautiful, mud season because it keeps motor vehicles (most of them) out of the woods.

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  2. We've had our share of snow and mud here too. Lots of both. We have crazy red mud that we track everywhere. So, our solution: we fill a small 1 1/2 inch deep basin and slosh our boots around in it before we head into the house and take them off.

    At one of our favorite hiking areas over at the coast, there is an interesting device that has both a hard-bristled brush and a little water basin. It is expected that hikers will clean their boots before they head out on the trails so as to not track in rogue invasive seeds. It's a very cool idea. We adapted it for our muddier moments.

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  3. Yes, I will have to adopt some sort of a technical fix. But I doubt anything will be 100% effective.

    We have some clown who like to drive their ATVs around in the woods. It's officially illegal in the state forest, but there's no enforcement. The pot chopper starts up in mid-summer, but even if they cared to call the cops on the beer sodden louts I doubt they'd bother to come.

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  4. i hear tell of "mud rooms" in snowy areas. guess there is a reason. with obvious mud/shoe issues, i make everyone take theirs off in the garage and rinse. but you know that doesn't solve the problem, always.

    in japan, everyone takes off their shoes indoors [homes and other places] and dons slippers. this is a very widespread custom, all times of year, but it makes sense. nobody goes tracking mud around 1000+ year old sites, or that small hotel in snow country, or onto the restaurant tatami mats.

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  5. Footwear off at the door works very well. Plus you don't have animals or children to subvert the system, so I'd definitely recommend trying it.

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  6. the weather map for your section of the country seems to indicate either mud or snow for certain.

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  7. Totally mud.

    Mud rooms work but not really if you have to make multiple trips, e.g. to bring in groceries or, as in my case, move in.

    I had visitors the other day with animal and children, so the system was subverted.

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