Snow Clean-Up Methods

For those familiar with the Upper Peninsula, they know that in the winter months, the region picks up a lot of snow. Thanks to northerly winds off of Lake Superior, the snow can quickly pile up under the right ingredients. But it's not only lake effect that the peninsula receives but a good deal of system snow, too. Under the perfect scenario, the Upper Peninsula receives the most snow when a low pressure system forms around the four-corners region of the United States and tracks northeasterly, with a target near the Northeast portion of Lower Michigan. The snow produced by the system combined with lake enhanced snows sometimes produce storm totals in excess of 30". We haven't seen one of those epic kinds of storms in awhile, so we're overdue. Living up here, we need all the tools necessary in order to dig out.

Probably one of the greatest inventions ever created for someone living in the Upper Peninsula is the snow scoop, or also known as the Yooper Scooper. A couple of companies manufacture snow scoops in the U.P. and they are handy for any type of snow accumulation that needs to be taken care of. My dad has had his own snow scoops for years and now that I am in my own place, I have one myself. The majority of the time, I clean up my driveway with it unless the snow gets really piled up, then I resort to using the snowblower. Silver Bear Manufacturing of Atlantic Mine in the Keweenaw Peninsula is one such builder of the snow scoop and they also build snow rakes for the roof as well as include wheels to install on a snow scoop for those locations who may not get a lot of snow. The wheels help to move the scoop a lot easier on concrete and asphalt surfaces. Without the snow scoop, us Yoopers would be having more of a difficult time clearing all of that snow!

Now for those individuals with long driveways or for those who plow other people's drives, a snow scoops is definitely not the way to tackle that endeavor. The next best thing is to own a plow to push all of that snow away. There are a couple of different kinds of plows including the V-shaped plow or a straight-blade. More often than not, they are attached to the front of a vehicle, preferably a pick-up truck of a Jeep, but some people have been known to attach plows to the rear of a tractor. Whatever the case, a plow does make quick work out of cleaning a driveway free of snow. And for residents in the Upper Peninsula where it often snows days on end, a plow is definitely a handy thing to have.

And then you have the snowblower, which is what I have when I need to clear an excess amount of snow from my driveway. I don't have a real long driveway, so I don't necessarily feel the need to get a plow. Maybe once I get older, I'll probably feel more of a need to get a plow. But when I purchased my home nearly a year in a half ago, it came with a new Ariens snowblower. It really works well for breaking through any amount of fresh snow. Ariens brand snowblowers are one of the top brands out there, but there are many other good snowblower brands on the market. It's easy to find snowblowers at home improvement retailers such as Lowe's and Home Depot. And when you live in the Upper Peninsula, the wider the cut on the snowblower, the better when cleaning up after snowstorms!

So yes, when you live in snowy locales such as the U.P., you definitely don't want to go on the cheap when trying to buy something to clean up after winter storms. As I mentioned, there are a variety of options to choose from, and it'll all depend on the type of snow clean-up you have to do. So, consider your options carefully and make the most of a snowy winter after everything's cleaned up. It goes a long way in enjoying the most that life can offer.

Christmas Greetings to You

Hello all and Merry Christmas! I hope today has allowed you the time to spend it with the people that matter the most in your life. Unfortunately for me, I have to go in for a 12-hour shift in a matter of a few hours, so it's not exactly the most joyous of Christmases for me. Never the less, I was able to spend a little of my day today with members of my family, so all was not lost. And even yesterday, I had the entire day to be with a large group of people that matters the most to me. So even though when you're an adult and have to juggle around work in order to celebrate Christmas, you do what you have to do to enjoy it as much as you can. Oh how nice it would be to be able to have the week between Christmas and New Years off just like when we were kids.

It's been a particularly hectic month in a half for me, which is why you haven't seen nearly as many blog postings here as I would've liked. They have been forcing a lot of overtime on us at work lately, including the past two weeks where they had us working 68 hour weeks. When you're working a lot of 12-hour shifts, it really eliminates a lot of your personal free time. During that time, I still had Christmas shopping to try and complete as well as to find something for my mom's birthday. I did manage to find a few items on-line, but I had to resort to being one of those last-minute shoppers to get everything done that needed to be completed, in the shopping sense. No matter, though, as there sure seems to be plenty of last minute shoppers in the world out there.

I have also been trying to work on projects around the house and to keep up with the shoveling and snowblowing outside. Yes, winter is in full force here in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. It's amazing how quickly things can change in just a matter of a couple of weeks. The first week of December, we basically had very little , if any, snow. But then the lake effect machine started kicking in and we were even hit with a significant winter storm at one point. So yes, it's like the dead of winter around here - which isn't any surprise seeing that it's December after all. I have a couple of rooms in my house which I am looking at painting here very soon. When I have a stretch of days off coming up, I'll be looking to get that project completed. So as you can see, things have been very, very busy for me. Hopefully once we get into the New Year and beyond the holiday season, things will begin to settle down. No rest for the weary, as the saying goes!

I sure don't plan on this being the final blog posting here at Luke's Ponderings for 2010, but ya never know considering how things have gone since November. But here's hoping your Christmas holiday has been worthwhile and filled with joy. The New Year is coming upon us quickly, so make sure and enjoy the remainder of your holiday season and here's wishing you a joyous 2011. It's hard for me to believe that 2010 is just about over; how quickly the year went! Here's hoping for a wonderful 2011 here at Luke's Ponderings with plenty of new blog postings to come. Cheers!

An Ever-Changing World

As we all know in life, things never stay the same. Physical changes are constant and the landscape is always changing. I was thinking back on a lot of things that have changed within the area where I live. Old buildings and structures coming down and new ones replacing them. New projects beautifying an area - enhancing the look of the community and making it look better than it already is. New residential properties and developments - bringing in more people in a particular area to live. Like I said, there is always something that changes and more often than not, it's for the better.

And yet, there are some negative changes that occur within a community; things that go away and are never to return. ShopKo stores built a retail store in the Marquette community in the 1970's and with it a full service gas station along Washington Street in front of the store. Back then, ShopKo wasn't the only entity that provided a full service fuel station in the community. But gradually through the years, full service stations have been fading away. Eventually, ShopKo became the only fuel station to provide full service the entire duration that the station was opened. That officially ended this fall when ShopKo abruptly shut down its gas station due to deteriorating underground fuel tanks.

According to a story released by one of the local news stations, ShopKo stores felt it was not economically feasible to replace the tanks and continue operating the gas station which is why it was shut down. Apparently the station had been experiencing problems with its tanks for a few years. But it got to a point where the tanks needed to be replaced and it's an extremely costly operation to replace underground fuel tanks. More often than not, gas station owners prefer going out of business rather than having to replace fuel tanks. But they were the original tanks that ShopKo opened with in the 1970's; so they got a lot of life out of those tanks. And that ShopKo store was the only store in its chain to has a gas station situated on its property. So the Marquette store was rather unique in its own way. That all came to an end earlier this year.

But then you look at other businesses or changes the occurs in a community through the years. The Bunny Bread bakery had a significant presence in the Marquette community for quite awhile. During the night time hours, the iconic Bunny Bread sign could easily be seen as you traveled along the US-41 bypass between central and south Marquette. The lights on the bunnies ears would flash slowly, as if the bunny was moving its ears. It was a really unique sign and I was just a young kid up until it last operated. Soon after, it was removed and a part of Marquette's night time landscape was changed. I am happy to say, however, that the sign is still intact just inside of the entrance to the U.P. Children's Museum in downtown Marquette. Even though you cannot see it from the highway, that particular piece of Marquette's past is still alive and well.

For good and for bad reasons, change is always happening within a community. Even the historic Delft theater marquee in downtown Marquette is no longer lit up at night due to the freak mid-summer hail storm from three years ago caused significant damage to a number of the lights. Hopefully that is one change that won't be a permanent one. More often than not, we adjust to the changes and life goes on. Obviously things like losing the last every-hour full service fuel station and historic signage will be missed, but we'll get by and move forward. And more often than not, new things come along to replace some of those things that change. It's an ever revolving world that we live in and at least in that sense, it's never boring.

Second picture is of the Bunny Bread sign located inside the main entrance of the U.P. Children's Museum in Marquette, MI.