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I know what you’re thinking. “Fascinating subject Arb, do tell us more!”
Okay, perhaps not as gripping the other newsy bits we we have around here but none the less a subject that shouldn’t be casually swept aside. Living in Alberta means that for three to five months of the year, snow will be on the ground. The lovely first fall of snow marks the official end of mosquito season and the transition to having ‘exposed flesh stick uncomfortably to metal season’. Some might balk at all the freezing rain, sleet and snow – but really – it isn’t that bad.
One of the civic expectations of snowy Edmontonian existence is keeping the public sidewalk in front of your place of residence clear of snow and ice. Our civic authorities mandate that from the time of the last snow event forty-eight hours are given in which to clear your walks in order to make them safe for people to walk on.
Sound reasonable?
Seems workable to me and thus after each snow I make my rounds with my trusty shovel and ice-scraper. My goal is to get down to the concrete to ensure a safe and solid footing for all those who would come to see me, or merely have to sojourn past my property. For my work to be done, my walks need to pass the inappropriate winter footwear test. If I can confidently make my way in my sandals –
Then, and only then, my job is done. :)
It takes some time and work, let me assure you. Many factors are working against you in the valiant quest for clean sidewalks it is here my arch nemesis must be named.
Freezing Rain.
A glossy, slippery, unchippable horror that can only be bested by the most potent weapon in my winter arsenal.
Glorious sidewalk-salt. That being said, one must consider the bitter-salty implications of using this dread weapon on icy sidewalks. Salt is not conducive to the growing and maintenance of grass or anything else organic for that matter.
Observe.
The battle for clean sidewalks is necessarily a delicate balance. A fateful alchemy of dedication, perseverance, and Na Cl. It is a fine line that must be walked during snow-season in Alberta.
Domestic violence is an issue that deserves more time in the basket labeled “things society cares about.” I am only one generation removed from a time when women were widely thought as of the property of their fathers, then their husbands. Then Radical Feminism got into the mix and started to analyze, deconstruct and protest this unacceptable situation. Andrea Dworkin from Women Hating Right and Left:
Putting ideas and concepts together so that they can be shared, and more importantly passed on, to the next generation is so frightfully important, yet it is not being done. I did not even know about Andrea Dworkin and her writing till very recently. Outside of a few tumblr’s and few Woman’s Studies courses that haven’t drunk too much of 3rd wave kool-aid you just won’t find mention of one of the key figures in feminist history.
I’ve read a lot of Dworkin and sometimes it is really all over the place, but at others (see the above quote) she focuses in like a laser to give words and then understanding to the the problems facing women. Dworkin’s insights must be handed down and shown to the next generation(s) of women – lest we invoke another historical chestnut – those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it blah blah blah.
Are we repeating?
I’d like to see in my time the quote from above (and others like it) get into the history books and stay there.
bleatmop
Mystro
The Arbourist
Dead Wild Roses 
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