Snow, Snow Go Away...

Mini bulldozers and a plow at
the ready to clear our street.

Montreal winters are supposedly a thing of legend - very cold, very snowy, and very windy.  Before the snow started falling, I received many cautionary tales warning of how awful it could be... trekking through blizzards while contacts freeze to eyes!  I was frightened and excited.  Then winter came, and I was... dare I say it... disappointed.  Maybe thirty years in Chicago prepared me for any kind of winter.  Or maybe this was just one mild winter in Montreal.  Either way, I was feeling kind of cheated.  Is that weird?  I don't think many people wish for a blizzardy winter.

Montreal snow plow in action.

Luckily, mother nature made more of an effort last week and we received another 15cm of snow.  And to my excitement, I was finally able to witness the extraordinary process of how the Montreal gets rid of the snow.  Normally, snow removal is not an event that I would get too excited about.  I lived in Chicago long enough to appreciate the hard work of those who plow the streets so I can safely get around.  But I have never broken out the popcorn and cozied up to the window to watch it happen.  Then I moved to Montreal.

Here they actually remove the snow - it's not just plowed to the side, it is actually collected and carried away.  Before a street is plowed, orange signs are posted giving everyone a twelve hour period during which cars cannot park along the street.  Once the snow plow parade is ready to begin, a tow truck takes the lead blaring a very distinctive horn down the street.  The tow truck makes several passes and any remaining cars parked on the street get towed away.  With the stragglers cleared, mini bulldozers zip up and down the street plowing the snow from the sidewalks and on to the street (As a Chicagoan, I was amazed that the city actually clears the sidewalks and not just the streets.). 

This first video shows a little bit of the dozers

and plows clearing the sidewalks and streets.

There was a bonus side show when a

tread came off one of the mini bulldozers.

Next, a variety of plows start moving the snow away from the sidewalks toward the center of the road until the whole thing becomes one long snow pile running the length of the street.  Which brings us to my favorite part!  A monstrous snow blower comes along the street taking up all the snow and sending it into the back of a truck that is creeping alongside (you can see it in action in the video below).  A truck will fill up every couple of blocks and is quickly replaced by another ready to be filled with more snow.  I'm not sure where the full trucks actually go with all of the snow... somewhere around the edge of the city I guess.  I will let you know if I find a snow mountain still melting away in a vacant parking lot in July.

The grand finale.

It is a pretty amazing process to watch, and like the weirdos that we are, Adam and I were spectators at our window (Thank you Adam, for documenting the process for me!).  Rook joined us because he is our short, pudgy shadow that goes where ever we go... unfortunately we hogged all the good viewing space at the window, so I looked down to find him just staring at the wall instead.  Hmmm... maybe that pup isn't as bright as I like to believe, but you have got to give him bonus points for being adorable.