If
you live north of the Bahamas, it’s probably been an interesting and long winter.
Either you’re under piles of snow, dodging ice storms, or listening to most of
us complain about the piles of snow and ice storms. Doesn’t matter, we all
dealt pretty well with it until a few weeks ago. Now, the conversation is
about when spring is coming and warm weather getaways.
So,
as this week's named winter storm approaches, (when did we start giving these things
names?) I’m preparing the family for the next phase in keeping snow and ice at
bay—pickle juice.
No,
I’m not drinking it, although I have before, and wow, has it got a kick. I actually
got the idea from Jersey. New Jersey. And Wisconsin. Sometime around the end of
January talk started circling about whether our area would beat the all-time
record snowfall for the month. Snow became the focus of our discussions, on the
news, at school drop-offs, and as everyone repeatedly rushed the stores to grab
supplies before the next system hit.
During
all this snow, it appeared our area dealt with it as best as can be expected
with state/county/municipal budget reductions (read: fewer crews, fewer snow plows, and less salt). What I learned as the discussion continued, was other areas had run
out of road salt too. What did Wisconsin do? Turned to cheese of course. It was
too good to be true, but the New York Times reported it! Milwaukee was working
on a program to “repurpose cheese brine for use in keeping city roads from freezing, mixing the dairy waste with traditional rock salt as a way to trim costs and ease pollution.” Apparently,
it coats the roads better. I love they even specify what kind of cheese works best. It’s worth a read, even if only for a giggle, although if it works, we
could all be doing it.
Or,
like New Jersey, we could reach for the ‘pickle juice.’ They used a briny salt and water mixture resembling pickle juice to help melt snow. Plus, they’re
saying it’s more economical than spreading salt alone.
I
like economical and ecologically friendlier—even if it stink up the
streets—option. Besides, we’ve been to seven stores this past week, and no one has
salt! I don’t even normally spread the stuff, it took us three years to use the
last container we had, but work and school won’t wait for a May melt.
We
need a pickaxe to get through most of the snow turned ice left behind from
January. And since Winter Storm Titan is about to bring more snow, followed
shortly by Winter Storm whatever-its-name is, I figure it’s time to try the
pickle juice. I’m talking about actual pickle juice from a jar that still
contains edible pickles.
So, we’ll see what the week brings. Perhaps,
we’ll never have to buy salt again, or maybe we’ll attract the local animals
for “Pickle-fest” and be forced to move. You know, on second thought, maybe we’ll
just skid our way in and out of the driveway and wait for the spring thaw!
Happy Snow Days! #springwillcomeagain
