The worst part of it is that the streets are impossible to use. Tuesday evening, from the back of the house I could hear a loud noise: the wheels of a big SUV in the street, attempting to move up the slight incline on which we are situated. As I watched from the front door, the driver was at last able to back into a driveway and turn around to head downhill. Immediately, no more spinning; they just rolled peacefully away, nicely avoiding my son's car parked in the street.
Just as the streets are impassable, so the schools are closed. Tuesday, Wednesday, and now Thursday! The melting began today (Wednesday), but the freezing temperatures on Thursday will continue through the morning. What's that? Ice on the streets. And I don't just mean the ice we have had from people who continue to run their lawn sprinklers through the winter months. You know, those sprinklers which inevitably spread more water on the pavement than on the poor grass fighting for dormancy. Don't get me started!
Oh, I just said the worst part was the ice on the streets--Nope, the worst part is being sick in bed when the kids are home! Oh, the agony, not being able to put them to work properly. My agent, their oldest brother, did get them moving after awhile, but the pull of the video game was upon them. They did get their homework done Wednesday, however, and actually ventured outside in the sunshine.
Having to languish in my little corner of home left me without resources to take photos of what can be a magical time. You see the sparkling ice on the branches of trees and plantlife, the layer of white covering everything else, making daytime ghosts of ordinary objects. I do, however, have some photos from the "ice storm" a year ago. Well, okay, December 2007 but close enough. Things were a little more dire that time. This winter the power company actually made their way through the neighborhoods and trimmed tree branches away from power lines. Seemed an improvement, as we didn't have thousands of homes without power in this city.
Here you are, your reward for reading this far:
We found this beautiful slice of tree trunk along the walk, on our way to a Red Dirt Rangers children's concert. It perhaps demonstrates why so many trees did fall simply from ice.
Although, it does not explain why the tree in our backyard snapped the way it did. Can you tell which piece used to go where?
Oh alright, a little more dramatic, and you can see more of what happened:
It was amazing to see in person, such a large limb changed like that. And it so considerately missed the wretched garage. Why do you think it snapped?
This was a bit of bad luck.
The branch wasn't that big - but fell at just the right angle, I suppose. The car hasn't been the same since. Ho-hum.
Stay tuned for more winter magic from this corner of the world. I have to survive the end of this ailment and possibly a major dental appointment, so be patient, won't you? :~)
{All photos available for closer examination on my Flickr page}
