Reading Texans Bill and M Stevens enthuse about their itty-bitty snowfall made me think of this Wall Street Journal article I clipped out a couple of months ago. It seems that a Houston-based company called Ice Express charges big bucks to spray artificial snow around for that special event. A 30 foot by 24 foot area sprayed in ground-up ice will set you back–take a deep breath–$1,150. They don’t give a depth measurement for that price, but in the article it mentions ten inches at one site. So taking that as our depth, let’s do some math. Divide the price by 710 square feet and you get a little under $1.62 per square foot. Divide that by the ten-inch depth and you’ve got sixteen cents for every square foot of snow an inch deep. Now . . . what are the measurements of your yard? Say your lot is 130′ by 100′–about a third of an acre, or 13,000 square feet, and, that, like us, you’ve got 18 inches of snow on the ground. If my calculations are correct, that’s $37,440 worth of snow you’ve got laying around there! But wait, there’s more. Here they charged a dollar to slide down this artificial snow–once. And here the poor kids are waiting in line for their chance to play in pulverized ice. Now when my children whine about how they’re sick of snow, I can truthfully admonish them that “plenty of children would love to have what you’ve got”–if only for a day.
One Man’s Snow is Another Man’s Treasure
February 14, 2004 – Posted in: MiscellaneousAbout the Author
Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.
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I find that you are so blessed to really have the grace to experience the snow and it’s effect ,first hand. For you see, there is no snow here in Singapore island.
I like to thank you for e-sharing your experience here.
From bro.soong see choo,at Singapore (tropic country) =) {SMILING}
Thanks again.
It’s hard for us northerners to get a sense of what makes winter “winter” down there. It’s never clear to me what goes dormant or for how long. But in general snow is better than a lot of other kinds of wintery precipitation; that’s why, despite all our moaning and groaning, we’re glad to see snow on the ground.
I wouldn’t charge a fee if you want to keep them as friends. I’m afraid it’s just entertainment expense.
Well, one live oak suffered a lot of damaage as I noted. The Lindheimers muhly (a tall grass) looks pretty messed up but it’s dormant this time of year anyway. I mostly use native plants, except for the roses. They’ve all been through colder weather than this and actually the snow seems less damaging than being coated with frozen rain. We may not get snow much here but freezing temperatures are very common in the winter.
I got several requests to store snowballs in the freezer for my Houston friends when they visit. Perhaps I should charge a fee?
That’s what it really comes down to, isn’t it? What is good for the plants? That’s what really matters. And I wonder how good that snow was for those Texas plants. If they weren’t ready for it, it could have been disastrous.
Wow–I’d better rush out and refinance before the temperatures go up! Seriously, though, it’s nice to have gotten decent snow cover here in Wisconsin after two previous bone-dry winters.