At the New Lowe's

Anywhere in the US you go to Lowe's and get hardware.  Or lumber.  Or power tools.  Or if you're me, paint.

But in NC there's a grocery store chain, I believe locally owned, also called Lowe's.  Lowe's Foods.

And today I looked up from the seating section by prepared foods and realized something.

Me: Is that a bear with antlers?
Big Frog: Of course.  It's not a bear den and it's not a deer den.  It's a beer den.

Bobcat snow

Ahh, majestic creatures, bobcats.


source: Ohio DNR

< auditory screech >

But wait.
Don't you live in the suburbs?

Actually, yes.
And it snowed enough that our screen porch is snowy.

And our Bobcats, as it turns out, actually are in the neighborhood to do sewer work.

Which they can't do when there's 5" of white stuff (more manna!) on the ground.
(Could be worse. We were in the 5-12" stripe of the forecast.)

So the gents, who actually hail from south Georgia, have made themselves available for private snow removal.

Coming from a driveway that is exactly one car length long and two car widths wide to a heck of a driveway, we took them up on it.


Sure beats using a dustpan.

Oh, you're moving south -- it'll be warm there.

 Oh, you're moving south -- it'll be warm there.

THEY LIED.

Yes, it's warmer than Harrisburg PA (at this moment, 32F here vs 25F there, and generally 10-15F warmer), but there are drawbacks, mostly in human preparedness.  There is enough salt currently spread on sidewalks and streets all through the Triad that walking around literally crunches.  And yet, I know for a fact that there are households that park right along the street's edge of their driveways instead of in lovely covered garages (so glad we have a garage!) because they have no shovels.  In fact, on the late-night news, the poor reporter who drew the "you're outdoors in the snow" short straw is saying that if you don't have an actual shovel, try a broom, or a dustpan.  And if you don't have an ice scraper for your car, there's always a kitchen spatula.