Où sont les pelles à neige?

That's a question I've perfected over the last couple of weeks.

What's a pelle à neige, you ask?

This:

Not one to be found in the whole city of Luxembourg!!

And I really need one!  The never-ending snow we've had over the past few weeks means a lot of sidewalk to be cleared.  By law, residents have to clear the sidewalk in front of their houses by 7 a.m. or they risk being fined.  I've also heard you can be liable if someone falls and is injured but I'm not sure if that's true.  So there I am each morning with my rake and broom trying to clear a path for pedestrians.  Not too bad if the snow is light and powdery, but if someone's walked on it -- and they usually have -- it's packed down and frozen solid, pretty much impossible to remove with a plastic rake and a broom.

So I need a snow shovel!  But every store I've visited (five at last count) has been sold out with no delivery date in sight.

Will someone please send some snow shovels to Luxembourg right now?  We really need them!  And maybe some salt too.  They don't have that either.

Being a California girl, all this is new to me.  In fact, I was surprised to learn that dumping salt on icy steps removes the ice and makes them safe to walk on.  Who knew? (I know, everyone but me).    I guess I should've paid better attention in chemistry class.  They probably told us the effect salt has on ice.

Anyway, it doesn't matter because there's no salt in Luxembourg either.  I did figure out, though, that the salt you have to dump in your dishwasher (this stuff) works pretty well on icy steps.

In the meantime, as I scrape the ice away with my plastic rake, cursing winter under my breath, I'll keep repeating to myself... Only three more months till spring, three more months till spring...