It's Raining...Ice?!

So, when I moved out here to New England, I asked people what the weather was like in the winter. More often than not, my question was met with a slightly dazed look and the same response - Bitterly Cold. Some went on to elaborate, telling me that there were Ice Storms where it simply rained ice, with accumlations up to an inch thick. When things get really hairy, I was told, the Mayor would even call to warn us!

So, it was with some trepidation that I entered into the winter months here. Yes, we've had a few calls from the Mayor's office, once before each of our two snow storms in the past few weeks.

What has happened today, however, trumps everything I've seen so far.






It appears to be a harmless slushy driveway, right?

Check it out - solid sheet of ice! When Lo Gung finally managed to pry this shovelful off the driveway, he chucked it to the side...only to have it come skittering back at him, having bounced off the icy drifts of snow! (Needless to say, he's working from home today...)

Isn't this bush lovely? Absolutely coated in ice, though. There are downed tree branches all over the yard...broken under the weight of this ice. The felled branches are mostly from trees that were already mostly dead, though, so they were very brittle to begin with.

I've never seen so many icicles in one spot! The rain drips off the railing and adds to these beautiful little decorations...it's one of the craziest things I've seen in a long time. The deck railings, patio furniture, garbage cans, eaves, tree branches...they're all lined with these itty bitty (but ever growing) icicles!

Here's a shot of our backyard. You can see the lake, completely iced over. I'm very curious though - a tree, down by the lake, broke off with a loud CRACK this morning and landed on the frozen surface of the lake. So...when the lake does melt...will the tree just float away? It's not a very large lake...but it would make me chuckle to see a dead tree floating around in it, like some sort of Loch Ness...tree!

Even the power lines here are lined with itty bitty icicles. I have lost count of the sanding trucks, ladder trucks and police cars that have cruised by my house, out to restore power to freezing families!

How's your winter treating you? (Special shout out to my friends in the Pacific Northwest - you've been hit with more snow than anyone has seen in a long time. Hang in there!)