Fascinated

I continue to be fascinated with Norwegian weather, but even more with Norwegian snow removal, road clearing methods. I know, I know, you must be thinking, "More about the weather?? Is this girl pathalogical? Has nothing better to do? What?" Well, all those may be true, or none of them. But I am hooked. I think the real reason is that the Norwegian methods and reasoning of snow and ice clearing confound me. I just can't figure it out. This is one of those cross-cultural conundrums. So, if you have some insight, let me know. I've asked others and no one can help me.

My bewilderment reached its peak last weekend during a blitz of flippy weather. Really, it was just that the temperature was teeter-tottering up and down from the freezing point. So, it seemed that the wind would blow (figuratively, since it wasn't actually blowing) and the weather would change. One minute we had massive - yes, I mean massive. I've never seen them this big. About the size of a commuion wafer! (If you don't know what these are, get yourself to a church that continues to use these unappetizing cardboardy things, or maybe not. Just ignore your wondering and find a church with real communion bread).

And then, it would rain. Not icy rainy snow, but real rain, turning all that snow into a slushy ice fun-time! Then there were times when I didn't know what was going on. Snow? Rain? Weirdness?

The end result was grossness. Normally Norwegians walk calmly along, seemingly not worried about ice, with not a fall or a sliding shoe or car in sight. But on this night. Uff da! I saw people literally slipping off the sidewalk and scooting across the crosswalk. Here's what the intersection near near my apt. looked like.
Now, those of you from the northern climates of the US - Minnesota, Wisconsin, even Illinois - are probably thinking, like me, "ok, yucky weather, but it can be cleared off. Just call out the snowplows! Heck, they should've been out salting and sanding and clearing with the first sign of a flake." Well, you would be wrong. Here is where my cultural reasoning fails me. The Norwegian snow plows don't seem to appear until all the snow / rain / yuck has finished. The main roads seem be ok, but the sidewalks and street crossings are disgusting, slippery, and slushy. This is the road and sidewalk outside my apt and what most of the sidewalks have looked like all week here. I only almost fell once! Yippee!

So, back to the snow removal conundrum. The means of removing all the snow and ice are also fascinating. Quite often, after the snow, I hear these tractor sounds and scraping ice. Well, these would be the maneuvering snow plows! Oop, don't hit the car! Whew.
Oh, but don't worry. These don't just clean the streets, or sit outside the 7-11 while the driver grabs a midnight snack. No, they are for the sidewalks too! An all purpose snow and ice cleaner that kind of cleans, after the ice has frozen. Really, a slush clearer. I swear it's going to take out the sides of these cars one day too.