We seem to be having a good year for ice. The up and down temperatures seem to really help with ice. We get a bit of warmer weather and rain, then everything freezes.
At times like this, I tend to avoid certain areas as much as possible. Part of the driveway is paved, so I can use salt on the asphalt to clear the ice. The front walk is concrete. Since salt and concrete tend not to play well together, I also have some form of ice melter stuff to clear the ice there.
So I have a selection of containers of things that will melt ice. But they are all for specific uses. Although I should expand those uses to include the back step. One day a week or so ago I snowboarded down the back steps. Only I don’t have a snowboard. I was just wearing my boots. And balancing a container of compost. I made it. Somehow. And I’m sure it looked really cool. But I’m in no hurry to try it again.
Then there are parts of the back yard. In the spring, this would be something that looks somewhat like lawn, so I don’t want to use salt. But that’s where the compost bin lives, so I have to make my way across this area. I could wear skates, but that’s a lot to go through. I could strap on my cleats, which I use for longer walks, but again, it’s a lot of preparation to get rid of a few things in the compost.
At one time, I used to use kitty litter. Just plain old kitty litter. The clay stuff. For some reason it has become a rare commodity. If you can find it, it is often more expensive than the clumping stuff. And the clumping stuff doesn’t work well as traction sand. Not to mention you would probably end up tracking it through the house, which would not be a good thing at all.
Traction sand can be found, but it doesn’t seem easy to come by some times. Mostly because this part of the world is covered in ice at the moment and everyone is looking for the stuff, I suspect.
I guess I should plan ahead. So starting next year, every time I go to the beach, I plan to come home and shake out my shorts and shoes and start making a pile in the back yard. There never seems to be a shortage of sand in your car when you come back from the beach. Or in your shoes or your shorts. So it should be just a matter of collecting it all up and saving it up.
In the meantime, I guess it’s the penguin walk and hope for the best.
