Slush!

It's -9 out, according to the thermometer. I'm pretty sure that's inaccurate, though, as I've just been out for a couple of hours, and I didn't feel the need to get out my hat and gloves.

Most of the overnight snow has melted, and it's warm enough that the large piles of accumulated snow are melting a little, too. And that means one thing - slush!

The city is very good at keeping the streets plowed after it's snowed. The problem is that when the plows go past, they don't get too close to the side of the road - driving a steel plow into the kerb won't do either of them much good. So the snow is pushed into a pile that normally takes up between a foot and a yard of the inside lane.

And when the sidewalks are plowed, the snow from there is also pushed onto the same pile. At least if you've got a sidewalk - I can't remember if I've mentioned this, but the street that the apartment is on doesn't have a sidewalk - it's a block too far away from the main road to have one. Which does make me wonder - when I'm walking to get the bus, am I technically jaywalking until I get to somewhere that has sidewalks?

Anyway. The streets end up with a pile of snow to the side (as a side note, for all these years, I've just assumed that I'm lousy at parking; it turns out that no, I was just practicing for here, when getting within a couple of feet of the kerb is the best you can manage). I've noticed that occasionally, these piles of snow are cleared by the city - I've no idea where they take all this excess snow, but I like to think of it being exported to countries that don't have any so under-snowed children can make snowmen. But the stuff that remains freezes into ice, and is pretty darned solid after a couple of months. And of course, it's exactly where the drains are.

We end up with a situation where the snow is trying to melt, but there's nowhere for it to go. So it builds up, and we end up with some pretty impressive slushy puddles. Maybe I should stay inside until it's all melted....