Snow Plow (10 Lines E)

There are sounds that always seem somehow Canadian, winter sounds.

Not the joyful yell of ‘Car!’ from street hockey players, which in truth can be heard in spring and fall, and sometimes well to the South, where backyard rinks are known.

It is that low grumble, as much felt as heard, slowly building in the far distance, the groan of the snow plow.

It is understood that those American states bordering the 49th also know this, but outside of perhaps those confined in apartment blocks, there will not be a Canadian who does not know what that grinding noise means.

It wakes you, in that grey partial light of early dawn, a warning that you had better plan for the time getting the driveway clear and give yourself extra for your morning travel to work.

You can hear that distant rumble, growing ever louder, which always seems to happen only when you have just spent a back breaking hour to finally get all that snow cleared away from your drive way, and always coming towards your side of the road.

Just as well known, if not sonic, is the line of traffic crawling along, behind a man made blizzard from trucks clearing highway lanes, which always seems to happen when you are already running late.

Paradoxically, the lack of that crunching reminder can mean cancelled trips, signifying ‘It must be bad, even the plow hasn’t been around yet’.

As much as resigned annoyance may be cast their way sometimes, those drivers are the un-recognized backbone to travel over our long winters, allowing drivers to (mostly) forget they still do live in a landscape otherwise covered in snow.

As much as I try to remember this, I too often exhibit that most Canadian of attitudes, questioning why they still have not come around to my rural back road, then cussing the snow plow that re-buries the end of my drive.

image
https://dissolve.com/video/CLOSE-Truck-plows-snowy-country-road-during-horrible-royalty-free-stock-video-footage/001-D519-136-051