And it still is. Hard enough that although I finished the driveway there is now a thin layer of fresh snow on it.
Maybe it snowed like this in 1978 or 1979 or whenever that really big blizzard was, but all I remember of that one is the huge snowdrift in my front yard and the plow drifts taller than me on the other side of the road. This storm is not as bad as that one was.
We got (so far) an even foot of snow. And it's wet, heavy snow. Fortunately I have the big self-propelled 2-stage snowblower that was my father-in-law's, and it was trivial to get it out and started since I already did that last week. I did have to take it slow, though, and when I got to the plow drift at the bottom of the driveway I had to work the clutch, in its lowest gear, to inch it through that. But it did the job.
Towards the end of the job, after I'd moved the cars and was doing the top of the driveway, it started doing that thing where the engine kind of falls over when I engage the blower drive, so I think it really is an oil viscosity issue as Og suggested. Probably ought to change the oil this year.
The only time I needed a shovel was for a little work on the porch, which didn't take much effort. Salted the driveway and then had to open the other bag to salt the porch.
I think we're good now.
* * *
Last year my wife bought a bag of "Japanese-style peanuts" and I ended up eating the whole thing. I saw them at the store Friday night and bought another bag, and I cannot stop eating them. They're peanuts with some kind of crunchy coating on them, just a hint of spiciness, and they're worse than crack.
The other thing she bought me (once) that I haven't seen since: deep-fried peanuts in the shell. Those were amazing; deep-frying makes the shells edible as well as the nuts and they end up being perfectly crispy.
Good old goober peas!