While browsing through the French newspaper yesterday two major stories caught my attention. First of all , biologists have given a clean bill of health to Quebec's caribou population saying that the animals are in great physical shape and flourishing whilst , in the same breath , announcing that hunting season would open next week. I am sure the some 400 , 000 beasts in the herd that roams our tundra and treeline region will be thrilled , if not overjoyed , by that good news !!
The second news item grumbled on monotonously bewailing the huge quantity of snowfall ...... adding that we were probably heading for a record - breaking year. There was , however , a new twist , to this old , hackneyed subject. In and around the suburban areas of Quebec City snow - removal crews .... with their snowblowers .... have been piling the snow skyhigh on homeowners' front lawns...... so much so that citizens are now complaining , asking the city to come , scoop up much of Mother Nature's comforter and truck it off to a dumping site. And I can vouch for what they say because driving yesterday from downtown Fluff and I couldn't even read the civic numbers on the homes in most quartiers ..... only rooftops and chimneys.Now the intellectuals at City Hall got together .... probably with some math expert ... and came up with a formula to help folks figure out how many cubic metres / yards of snow had already been blown onto their front lawns . They likewise furnished a limit as to how much snow they could dump on one's lawn....... adding that once attained , the City would scrape off any amounts exceeding said limit until the end of said Winter...... thereby giving more vision to homeowners' panoramic windows and making their civic numbers more visible to police , delivery guys , Publishers' Sweepstakes and tax collectors , etc. The burden of applying the mathematical formula to figure out how much snow you have out front is left up to you ! Have fun!
P.S. Joe Bine is our Quebec answer to "Joe Blow " or Average Joe. The caption translates , " I'm gonna have to put it inside.... there's no room left outside "
Mathematical formula? Just tell the snow plow guys to NOT cover the windows or addresses of the buildings. Why screw with numbers?
ReplyDeleteIf I find any caribou in our local parks you're the first guy I'm gonna suspect! **LOL**
It's not because they aim for the windows and numbers , Jim.... it just keeps piling up in a huge heap and ends up blocking the view both ways. ! The city has the right to snowblow onto homeowners' property ... otherwise it would cost a fortune to the taxpayers themselves to truck off ALL the snow that falls in their streets. I must add that much of it is carried away too. But now the city has set a limit on just how much they can put there. I'm lucky out here in the boonies as they blow most of it into the woods across the road.
ReplyDelete"It's not because they aim for the windows and numbers , Jim.... it just keeps piling up in a huge heap and ends up blocking the view both ways."
ReplyDeleteYeah, I got that I'm just saying what a waste of time it is to try and control the situation using MATH. They're not in a space shuttle (see reference to APOLLO 13) so they could just stand back and "eyeball" the situation then report when the snow is getting much too high. Maybe they could ask the offended persons if they'd be willing to "contribute" a little extra $$ for snow removal? Why ask you to pay when we can hardly see your house in those most recent photos and they don't even snowblow you lane. **LOL**
Right you are , Jim... and therein lies the stupidity and irony of it all and that's what I was laughing at ....... as you say ... eyeball about 40 or 50 cubic metres and lop it off with a payloader into a waiting truck ! I think you wold have a real ball with the snow removal guys and city hall up here , Jim LOL
ReplyDeleteIn NYC they have to truck it away....there are no lawns to put it on, and they dump it in the river...nasty. Anyway I am not worried over the snow but what about the meltdown? My sis out west has over 12 feet, and she lives by a babbling brook that becomes a 10ft deep torrent during the melt.
ReplyDeleteSame in Montreal.. and the back alleys aren't getting cleared, making it impossible for oil trucks to make deliveries .Some families have been left shivering. And they are not allowed to dump it in the St. Laurence. Our roads up here are actually ploughed better than my daughter's in Blainville. The Ski hill is thrilled. Frank's shoulders are ouchy-taberslack all the time. I have NEVER seen this much snow and thats even with the thaws last month. No formula here.. it's just too bloody much! One must be careful pulling into the road. Stay warm and cozy.
ReplyDeleteCaribou ! not in my yard... hehe.. but then you know that. At least the Innu will be able to rely on mother nature's bounty for that.
Hey there , Dixxe...like your sis and , as I have described the situation every Spring since I started blogging , we too live beside a babbling mountain brook and spend a week during the Big Thaw on pins and needles ... I wouldn't have it any other way though when we consider the peace and tranquility we have for the rest of the year. Hugs
ReplyDeleteAnd a great big "tabernuche " to you too , Barb ! Yes , we do have new aches every night and I get a real bang out of them not dumping the snow directly into the Saint Lawrence River... Here they dump it on a huge empty space near the Saint Charles River .... and when the whole monstruous shebang melts in the Spring the runoff flows into the Saint Charles and then into the Saint Lawrence ..... so you figure that one out ! And yes , the native peoples will be getting their fill of caribou venison this year I hope. HUgs to you and yours and hope Jaime is feeling better ... and that she will eventually , along with her doctors , find a remedy to her health problem. Thanks for dropping by...
ReplyDeleteWe have a nice snow island in the middle of our Court, which is great for the kids to go sledding down !!! Oh well the snow's good insulation for the garden, and anyway math was never my best subject so I'd never know when to complain!! :0)
ReplyDeleteReading all this has finally made me realize "snow country" living would not be for me. That is just too much work all the way around.
ReplyDeleteI do feel bad about the flourishing Caribous! Couldn't they just hide in the snow?
Way down here.........we are expecting very severe weather in a couple of hours. It is warm-moist and windy here now and when that cold air hits it might get very dangerous. I hate it!
Hmmm........Hawaii maybe?