Frozen In Time

Jan 31, 2009 05:51 PM Filed in: Day To Day
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Greetings, All, from the Great Frozen South!
In case you hadn't heard, we got hit with a pretty good snow and ice storm down here this week. Now I've lived a lot of places over the years, including a few well known for their challenging winters like Boston and Chicago, and I think I'm safe in saying that this particular ice storm ranks right up there with any I've seen anywhere in the country over the years. It was a proper Storm. More beautiful than I can describe with it's gleaming, glistening coat of clear bright ice, but also a major challenge to all the folk trying to live with it!
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The really amazing part of it is it's been a lingering event down here. The biggest part of it hit over night on Tuesday and through Wednesday, but once the storm had passed the cold settled in and so very little of it melted at all until today which is Saturday. And still most of the wires and trees are covered and weighted down, but tomorrow we're supposed to get well above freezing for the first time all week and so it's probably going to be the last day of the ice in the sky. Of course there will still be plenty of snow on the ground. I have a feeling we'll be seeing patches through next week because the temps are going to hover around freezing for the most part, and I think we may even get a bit more snow on top of it all.
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But while most of the rest of Kentuckiana has been struggling, me & the Kitty Pirate Crew have been hibernating and more or less enjoying the view of the Winter Wonderland outside our windows. Working from home can truly be a wonderful thing! And as good luck would have it, I had made a major supply run the Friday night before loading up on all sorts of goodies for the long haul, and so when the storm hit and havoc ensued, we were all set here at home, and so had no reason to even step outside the door! Well, I did make a few walks out to the mailbox for Netflix movies. LOL! But seriously, that's about it. I went out the first morning to do a quick walk-about and see what was to be seen. My overhead cable line was in Peril that first day with a large ice-laden branch on my big evergreen
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tree pressing down on it hard, but a few judicious jiggles with a rake were enough to knock most of the ice off the branch and allow it to spring up enough to relieve the pressure. And that was about it for us. That was the extent of our Icey Adventre. There are a few trees that have shed a few large branches, and there will be a certain amount of chain sawing to be done n a few weeks, but for the most part we skated through basically unscathed. A lucky break!
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It has been a rough calendar year for the poor trees though. First that great wind storm over the summer that wiped out many very large trees, some coming up by their massive roots and toppling over, and now the poor weakened survivors getting hit hard by the heavy ice. Decades of healthy growth has been cleared out of the neighborhood trees in just a handful of months. It's a sobering realization, and one that makes you want to do what you can to take care of the trees that remain. They're treasures, each and every one. I know I'll be doing some judicious pruning this spring and planting several new trees around the yard as well. Time to start up the next generation!

And that's about the extent of our week here. Josie & Finn for the most part have been happy to curl up inside and enjoy Winter as a spectator season. I've kept busy with my usual work stuff and playing around on my new Mac. He's pretty great! And of course with most of my close friends
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being scattered around the globe, I've stayed in touch with them (you? LOL!) just as closely as ever, as if the Great Ice Storm never happened. Oh, a few of you might be wondering where these lovely wintery pictures came from if I've been hibernating as completely as I say. Well, these lovely snapshots are compliments of my sister who lives just a few hundred very snowy yards down the road from me! Cheryl ventured out with her camera that first morning and took these and several more which she promptly posted on her Facebook page. I grabbed just a few of them to decorate with here. I REALLY like those frozen berries! Oh, and the snow covered lion sitting outside her door, she entitled that one "A Lion In Winter". Too funny!

And with that I think I will say "Good night" for now. I hope Winter is everyday reminding each and every one of you that you are alive and kicking! Enjoy it while it lasts because Spring will soon be here.  Cheers! JB