Of course, you don’t want to talk about this. Who in the McHenry area does? Snow – it’s coming. Hopefully, the snow will come to McHenry later, rather than sooner, but, be assured, it will snow in McHenry, Illinois, this year.

Tonight, you can sit down and watch the Patriots and Dolphins game, if you’re so inclined. You and your spouse can go out for dinner or, you can catch up on some reading. But, this might be a good time to do something about the snow. After all, if you don’t remove the snow from your driveway and walkways, someone has to.

“But there isn’t any snow outside?” No, not yet. But, as we’ve established, the snow is coming. The point is that you can prepare now and then you can sit and watch a Bears or Packers game in December with four or five inches of snow outside. Or, you can watch a Blackhawks game in January with eight or nine inches of snow on the driveway. You can catch up on your reading in February without worrying about the 12 inches of snow that came down over the course of the last 24 hours, or even go out for dinner with your spouse, if you can find a restaurant that’s open.

The point is that, with a little preparation today, you can avoid a lot of shoveling or snowblowing in the winter months to come. What can you do about it today? Instead of grabbing a shovel, or pull-starting the snowblower, simply do a little research and find yourself a quality snow removal company. Give ‘em a call, or send them an email, and setup a snow removal contract for your McHenry home.

When the snow arrives, you’ll be sitting pretty while your neighbors are out there breaking their backs and jealous as they watch a professional snow removal company quickly remove the snow from your walks and drives. The keyword, of course, is professional.

There are fly-by-night snow removal companies all over the place. If you’re OK with that, you might save yourself a few dollars going that route. Or, you could end up paying a lot more.

Many people, with pickup trucks, have the bright idea to put a snowplow on the front of the truck and ‘make a little extra money in the winter.’ But, that’s all they’ve got – a pickup truck and a plow. They’re almost always short on experience, their equipment is limited and unreliable and (this is a biggie) they are not insured.

Lacking sufficient experience, it’s more likely that they’ll have some kind of an accident plowing your driveway. You could have property damage. Someone could even get hurt. And then the lawyers get involved. No one likes the sound of that.

With a professional snow removal company, they don’t just have one truck. Their drivers have an abundance of experience. There’s a good chance the drivers have even received training. And, above all, they have insurance (any professional snow removal company worth its salt does).

One of the real tests of a snow removal company is when that really bit snowfall hits. That kind of blizzard puts an extra strain on the snow removal trucks and equipment, as can the bitter cold. A professional snow removal company usually maintains its vehicles to the highest standards. They understand that they can’t plow snow in McHenry, or anywhere else, if their snow removal equipment isn’t working.

The good news tonight is that, when you’re done lining up a snow removal company for this winter, you’ll still have time to sit down and watch that football game, or read that book.