Posted on 01/08/2006 7:28:52 PM PST by saquin
TSUNAN, Japan, Jan. 7 - After clambering out a second-story window on Saturday, Kimie Kuwahara, 80, stood atop the 10-foot-high wall of snow surrounding her house. She surveyed this region called the snow country - the starkly white mountain range that spread out in the distance behind her, the record snowfall that had blanketed all but the triangle-shaped roofs in her neighborhood.
Pushing a plowlike shovel with both hands, Ms. Kuwahara was busy clearing the fresh powder to a recessed pile several feet away under which, she swore, lay a pond with carp. Her husband, Naoji, also 80, had climbed a ladder onto the roof, where he deftly plied his shovel to send chunks tumbling down.
"It's a never-ending job!" said Ms. Kuwahara, who had left a "village on the other side of the mountain" to come to this town as a bride a half-century ago. "After you've cleared the snow, the place is covered with snow again two days later."
Smiling from ear to ear, Ms. Kuwahara, who maintained that snow-clearing had kept her the "fittest person in the neighborhood," said cheerfully: "Ah! The snow country! What can you do?"
The snow country, ensconced between the Sea of Japan and the Japanese Alps, is one of the world's snowiest regions and typically lies under a dozen feet of snow for several months a year. But the coldest winter in decades has brought record snowfalls to the region in recent weeks.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
A resident, climbing on the roof, clears the snow from his house at Iiyama, northern Japan, on Saturday January 7, 2006.
A Japanese woman removes snow to keep the passage Friday morning, Jan. 6, 2006 in Tsunam, about 300 kilometers (180 miles) north of Tokyo.
Yikes, that's a lot of snow! I will never complain about winter again. :-)
Bushs fault.
I'm thinking the Global Warming ain't working
amazing
Yep. If Bush had gotten the Kyoto Treaty ratified this would not be Happening!
Wow, interesting thread, saquin! Thanks.
Japan Ping :)
I'm in Minnesota, and I'm impressed.
More proof of global warming, I guess.
Look at that last picture, the ground isn't frozen, the street is wet, not frozen.
Maybe if they STAY snowed in, they'll start having babies.
Japan * ping * (kono risuto ni hairitai ka detai wo shirasete kudasai : let me know if you want on or off this list)
Commander Tom would say
"its 11 oclock ,do you know where your 13 ft of snow is?"
" Look at that last picture, the ground isn't frozen, the street is wet, not frozen."
Daytime temps above freezing , so with some sun the snow melts a bit ...+6C where I am in Japan today ...Tomorrow morning supposed to be -6C ...
I'm also guessing that they might have put down some salt or other deicer.
HA!HA! Irv and Rick would then make him go dig their cars out!
Please add me to your list
"Maybe if they STAY snowed in, they'll start having babies."
That's one of their biggest problems.
There's hardly anyone young and hardy enough to dig them out.
The children they had, and slaved to educate, moved to where the jobs are.
I used to live in Churchill Manitoba, (Polar Bear Country)
THe place was an artic desert with less than an inch of precip per year. When the snow came it was drift snow off Hudson's Bay and buried everything.
Me and my friends used to walk to school over snowdrifts that buried our houses. Up one side past your bedroom window and down the otherside.
It was a hoot. We used to joke that it was faster to go over a house than around it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.