Nice Ice

Brought to you by freezing rain.

Ice storms are quite dangerous. Don’t even think about driving. If you venture outside on foot, be careful where you walk. A thin coating of ice awaits every footstep.

The loud noises are not gunshots. The sound is created by large branches, unable to sustain the growing weight of rain turned to ice, snapping off and plummeting to the ground. On occasion, entire trees fall to earth.

Plan on power outages. Stoke up the wood stove or power up the generator to stay warm. Grab that comforter and heat up some soup. This is the time to finish that book, under candlelight.

But even so, you may want to leave the comforts of your dwelling.

You’ll be treated to a magnificent display of crystallization.

The coat of ice is uniform,
but the pines show less effect from a distance.

Drips on the wires for the deck railing
appear as if frozen in time.

What does not freeze on the roof drips out of the open end of the gutter.

A surprisingly regular droplet pattern on another set of wires
is further confirmation that gravity was in effect
throughout the entire storm.