As I write this, it's snowing. Again. For me, that means time spent shoveling the driveway, or stepping in puddles of melted snow deposited on my kitchen floor after my husband has shoveled the driveway.

It means delayed workdays, occasional white-knuckle driving and work-at-home days.

Like many people in the Lehigh Valley, I long for the arrival of spring.

Other than that, the frequent snowfalls this winter have left me with little to complain about. Some other area residents have felt the need to complain plenty, though.

Thanks to easy communication on social media, some have posted they are angry it takes the plows so long to get to their street, or their driveway gets plowed shut or snow is plowed onto a sidewalk they have just cleared. I think a little bit of empathy and thoughtfulness are in order.

I am taking this opportunity to thank local road crews for all they do to keep our streets and roads safe.

Salt trucks often begin running in advance of a snowfall or freezing rain and then often run day and night when snow accumulates on the roads.

The lives of these public works department employees this winter have revolved around the five-day weather forecast.

It is likely many of them have had few actual days off in the last couple of months.

It cannot be an easy job to push snow off a street lined with cars, uneven from potholes and filled with traffic. I respect the expertise and level of concentration it takes to complete this job.

So, I try not to complain when a plow comes along and pushes slush up against my car when it is parked along a curb.

And I do not shake my fist at a plow driver who pushes a ridge of snow into the bottom of my driveway.

Careful navigating is required of all of us, as repeated snows cause the piles of snow along roadsides and near intersections to grow as near-zero weather preserves the snow accumulation from one storm to the next.

In my opinion, it's not worth complaining about all of these snow challenges; it's simply part of life in wintertime Pennsylvania.

So, when the driveway is shoveled, and the plow has not come through my neighborhood yet, I may be exhausted and frozen from the work, but I know my job is not really done.

There will soon be a ridge of snow to clear from the bottom of the driveway.

And when my car parked along the curb is not plowed in by a road crew plow, I will count it as a blessing but not a given.

As the winter draws to a close, public works directors are watching their supply of rock salt dwindle as borough and township councils adjust their budgets to allow for an additional purchase of salt to help keep roads safe.

In the meantime, the rest of us are counting the days until spring.

I will do it with gratitude for the effort our local road crews have made this winter.

Snow. You've got to live with it!

Linda Wojciechowski

assistant editor

Whitehall-Coplay Press

Northampton Press

Catasauqua Press