Ice Storm

I got a phone call from one of my neighbors while I was away inquiring if our power had come back on. I listened to the message with a sinking feeling. I was unaware we had a problem and it was too late to call by the time I got the message. One of the other conference attendees mentioned an ice storm but she said it was in Massachusetts. I really hadn't given it any thought.

There was nothing on the ground as I drove north. There was nothing on the ground when I swung around the lake. But as I climbed the last 500 ft from the lake to the house, Holy Cow. Everything but the road was covered in a thick coating of ice. Apparently it was the last 500 feet in altitude that did it. I know I live in a micro-climate, but c'mon.



The storm started Thursday night and the power went out around 10p. There was no power all day on Friday, finally coming back on Friday night. I got home on Saturday around 4p and ice still coated everything. The trees are bent over, the forsythia is a glistening crystal sculpture bowed earthward, the barberries are frozen in ice. Many of the tops of trees and some of the arborvitae snapped with the weight. The sound of chainsaws echoed from the ridge tops on Sunday. We are still coated in ice as I write this, 3 days later.

There is nothing more beautiful than sunlight glistening on ice but it can be deadly.