We’ve gotten almost four feet of snow in the last three weeks. About eighteen inches over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend. About ten inches over two days the following week (while I happened to be in California!). And about eighteen inches again at the end of this week. It all compacts over time, so it’s not like we’re walking around with snow up to our armpits. But I wonder if this snowpack will be with us until April.

I think it’s the most snow in such a stretch since our family moved to northeast Ohio.

This might sound weird to you, but I actually prefer some level of snow cover during the winter months, as opposed to the drab, gray and brown winter-scape that we so often get at this time of the year. But this level of snow accumulation — and the corresponding snow removal — is just plain exhausting. Not just back-breaking, but soul-crushing.

I would guess I’ve spent 20-25 hours on snow removal over the last few weeks. And the stacks of snow have gotten so large that it’s just gotten hard to find places to put each additional shovelful. The forecast looks hopeful for the coming week, with minimal additional snowfall and a few days topping out just slightly above freezing. But even if it snows again, I’m thankful that I’ve got a strong back and some good shovels. I even kind of enjoy shoveling, in smaller doses.

And it’s kind of fun to help my neighbor, Max, create a place to practice snowboarding right on our street. As long as this snow is around, we might as well make good use of it.