Shovels to sleds, Wilmington takes on the snow
Wilmington was quiet on Saturday, muffled in the thick downy whiteness of snow, except for the scrape of shovels on pavement and the whomp of snow being piled on curbs.
The city had gotten about a foot of snow by Saturday afternoon and people were out on their sidewalks, armed with shovels of all kinds. Small groups of teens roamed, shovels slung over their shoulders, clearing the sidewalks in front of their neighbors' houses.
"Since it's a snow storm, I figured I'd help people," said James Paul, 16, who lives in the Hedgeville area and rounded up five of his cousins to help him shovel. They had been out since 9 a.m. and were still out at 4 p.m.
It takes about 10-15 minutes to clear the walkway in front of a house, Paul said, and they go back over the course of the day to keep it clear. They charge between $5 and $10 for their services.
Most people were clearing their own sidewalks, though, and the nearly empty streets were lined with cars cloaked in snow, their windshield wipers flipped up, looking like stray eyelashes, to make cleaning easier later on.
Some of Wilmington's smaller residents dodged between them, pegging each other with snowballs or heading toward a steeply pitched driveway with sleds in hand.
"I got a sled two, three years ago," said Connor Turner, 10, standing in front of his Canby Park-area home with his brother, Nicholas Turner, 6. They each had a sled.
"This is probably the most snow we've used them in, but we've used them in other situations," he said. As with most questions, Connor answered and Nicholas agreed.
They both like to go fast and they used a thick ridge of snow left by a plow at the bottom of a neighbor's driveway to make a jump for themselves, which they flew off of when they weren't flopping themselves off of the top of the fence around their yard into a highly piled snow bank.
"It's so tall, now we can jump the fence without grabbing on," Connor said, looking at the snow bank with wonder in his eyes at how different the world is when it's covered in snow.
"I'd say the world changes because you go from a warm, colorful place, then, everything is white," he said.
"One time I saw half a rainbow," Nicholas adds, earnestly.
"Yeah, it wasn't that long ago," Connor said.
A couple of blocks away, a pair of sisters from Texas had built themselves a snow fort in their front yard.
Damaris Konstanski, 4, and Thacia Konstanski, 5, had been out in the first real snow of their lives for a couple of hours in matching hats knit by their mother.
What's their favorite part of winter?
"Mine's when there's snow," said Damaris.
"Mine, too," Thacia agreed.
Down the street, wind whipped up a spiral of snow, sending it spinning like a top between rows of brick houses.
No snowmen had cropped up in the city yet, but snow scouts started appearing around the state as Boy Scouts took on a challenge from the leader for the Del-Mar-Va region offering scouts a free week at summer camp for the winning entry.
Boys submitted pictures to the scouts' Facebook page showing everything from traditional snowmen dressed up in caps and kerchiefs to a canoe carrying two snow scouts and a Boy Scout in the back.
The snowfall is expected to stay steady overnight, with a total forecast of 18-24 inches in Wilmington.
Contact Saranac Hale Spencer at (302) 324-2909, sspencer@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @SSpencerTNJ.