View From
The Groomer
by Steven Mine
As I step out of the house and into the night air, it’s
quiet… peaceful. The snow crunches underfoot and it
shifts and drifts slightly in the breeze. I’m making my
way to the snowmobile trail groomer parked idling and
warming nearby, and I quicken the pace to escape the
biting cold air.
I climb up into the cab of the John Deere tractor along
with my partner for the night, Duke, my English setter.
It feels so warm in the cab, maybe 30 degrees, which is
probably 40 degrees warmer than outside.I need to loosen
some of the heavy winter gear.
Starting through the pretrip checklist, I mark 10
p.m. as the start time and add the starting mileage to the
tracking spreadsheet. Next I check hydraulic functions,
loosening the front plow blade, the tracks and the rear
drag from the snow’s cold grip, then turn on the safety
lighting. I have to adjust the heat, warming too quickly,
and turn on the defroster. Lastly I flip on the flood lights
and the dark night turns instantly to “daylight”. The view
from the groomer is of a beautiful white landscape ahead.
We’re in a field in Northeastern Maine…Weston the
town,