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" After a brief spell of cold and snow (otherwise known as winter, otherwise known as normal for this time of year), we&amp;#039;re back to above-average temps and plenty of sun.  The sun, I&amp;#039;ll take. The above-average temps; well, you already know how I feel about that. Never mind that a good part of my income is garnered by writing about skiing, and that this ski season stinks (so far, it&amp;#039;s even worse that last season, which is quite an accomplishment). My concern is more long term and I just can&amp;#039;t get over the eerie feeling that winters like this one and last will not prove to be the exception to the norm.  I had a good ole time cleaning our solar panels of the last snow. Since our new Evergreen array is so large, it&amp;#039;s beyond the reach of the old push broom I&amp;#039;d delegated to the task. Rather than do something simple, like duct tape or hose clamp an extension to the push broom, I decided to fire up the Kubota and ladder myself into position. These are the sort of everyday adventures I really enjoy. Some would see them as a pain, and I understand that logic. But when I&amp;#039;m climbing high into the bucket of a tractor on a cold winter&amp;#039;s day with my broom in hand, looking out over our land and at the hills across the valley, I can&amp;#039;t help but feel, well, excited.  And yes, I recognize the perverse logic in firing up a combustion engine to clean my renewable energy power plant. Next time, I think I&amp;#039;ll just break out the duct tape. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/energy/a1151/4208862/>