We finally finished shoveling a spot in front of the house to park the car yesterday, and are once again expecting another 70cm before tomorrow. Every time I go outside the front door I am surprised now because without being able to see out the window (snow is deeper than window) it is easy to forget how much it is snowing out there.
The photo above-top is just down the street from my house, the photo above-bottom is the public temporary housing for people displaced by the earthquake last year – kinda like a one-story apartment building.
There have been quite a few accidents this year throughout Japan’s heavy snow region. Usually it is an older person, so being the cold-hearted bastish that I am, I don’t give it too much thought, but a month ago the father of two young children was shoveling the roof of their slot in the public housing shown above, when he fell from the ladder and died a few days later from head injuries.
Just a few days ago a young girl was playing outside (in a different town) when the snow fell from the roof of a building she was playing nearby. The snow crushed and killed her. People blame the grandfather who was outside with her as he, of all people should have known the dangers and known where it was safe to play and not to.
I would have to agree as I have only been here for a few winters and I already know where not to walk, let alone not let Mona play. Then again, it wasn’t until a year or so before we came that they stopped shoveling a shortcut behind the local meeting hall in the photo below, and that was only after two children got trapped in an avalanche from the roof. Lucky for them someone saw it and was able to dig them out.
Tomoe herself was caught in a mini-avalanche while shoveling in front of the house last week. It wasn’t much snow, but was enough to leave her with a sore neck for a few days.
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It’s nice to see Mona out enjoying the snow. I’d never think how dangerous it would be there.
Keep safe.
Do people not wear helmets while shoveling snow? I see a potential untapped market for you and Tomoe……
Actually the people working for the village and paid to shovel do wear them. The normal people (myself included) do not. There is no market because whatever I said, even if I wore it myself, would not change their mind. They are too hard-headed to need helmets.