Now that's ice!

Did I say I had ice? I think I may have mentioned it. I wanted to show just how thick this ice was. The first photo is a piece of ice I pulled off the roof rack of my car. It’s a bit more than 3/8 inch thick but not quite .5 inch.

This morning the trees are still covered with ice, some bent double, some broken, I think. At this point, I don’t know the full extent of the damage. The cabin is safe and warm, though. I parked my car down in one of Roundtop’s lots shortly after the storm began, so I am now walking about .25 mile to the car, lugging the computer and purse with me. Today, maybe, it will warm up enough for at least some of the ice to come off the trees. Perhaps I’ll be able to park at the cabin again by Friday.

I also had fog with the ice yesterday, which created something like a whiteout, or perhaps merely a grayout. In any event, I couldn’t see much. The weather this winter has been rather odd. Basically, it’s been normally cold, with temperatures down into the teens and single digits, but then about once a week it warms up to 33 degrees within 12 hours and I get an ice storm. Then the temperature drops back down to the teens again, often within another 12 hours. Many of these ice storms are storm systems that come up from the south, riding up the eastern coast, bringing warmer southern temperatures with them while the storm is overhead.

So far this winter I’ve had almost no snow, certainly I’ve not had a decent snow. It’s been an inch here or an inch there, though mostly it’s been ice. I’m tired of the ice. I can’t snowshoe. I can’t cross-country ski. Maybe I should just take up ice skating.

Coming down off the mountain this morning, the roads weren't too bad, though I saw several places where ice-laden trees and branches balanced precariously on the utility wires. Once off the mountain not only was there no ice but the roads were even dry. Somehow, seeing no ice and dry roads makes me feel a little shell-shocked. Off the mountain, it really is a different world.