Firefighters resorted to pushing their shovels into snowbanks and waiting until they heard a metal clink to know where the hydrants were. There were quite a few hydrants where all you could see was the top of the flag showing. There were a couple of hydrants we couldn t find at all, he said. In Portland, Joseph Hayes said business has increased at his chiropractic clinic due to people who complain of sore backs from shoveling, and from people who slip and fall on ice. But Hayes said he sees three to four times as many people during the spring after the snow s gone and people get to work in their gardens.
People go out and weed their gardens after a long winter, and they strain their backs.
They know how to shovel snow, but they don t know to pace themselves in the garden, he said. Northern Mainers, who observe no unusually big snow pileups, are definitely ho-hum about this winter. It was about average, said Andy Beaulieu from Frenchie s Variety in Grand Isle. The Weather Service s Caribou bureau said total snowfall there was 99 inches, a mere 4 inches above the average up to last Thursday. The seasonal average in Caribou is 115.6 inches, and Aroostook residents know winter s not over for them yet.