My driveway has been staked

Not that I'm complaining, but it's about a month later than last year's first snow, and Cleveland has still seen nothing this season. Personally, I find the white-free roads glorious and have been enjoying the unusually warm fall. Of course, as all gloom-and-doom Clevelanders keep telling me, this only means we'll pay for it later. And maybe I'm just wishfully unrealistic, but I have to think there are just some years that are mild. There HAVE to be. And so that is my hope as we head into this winter...that it's a mild one.

People who are not from here and who aren't used to or don't want to shovel their own driveways (read: wimps) hire snow removal services for the season. And yes, I am one of said wimps. Each fall, the snow people come out and 'stake' the driveways of their clients prior to the first snowfall. When I got home from running errands yesterday and noticed that my driveway had been staked, I was reminded of the strange sense of claustrophobia that ensues.

See, my driveway is super narrow (as are all driveways in the Cleve), and the presence of a substantial wooden stake on either side further confines my ability to maneuver. The funny thing, of course, is that it doesn't really confine me at all. The stakes are in the grass, and I am never actually "off" the cement when coming in and out of the driveway (well, there was that one time last year when I lined up wrong and ended up stuck in the snow bank that was my front yard). So while the stakes are in actuality harmless, they are 100% intimidating, and I can almost guarantee you that I will end up knocking one or both of them down by the end of the season.

My parents are in town (L, B, and baby E will join us today), and I'm hoping the snow can stay away long enough to let me show them a good time this week. Today: Sunny and 60 degrees. Tomorrow: Who knows. At least my driveway is staked.