“Ice is Nice”
In the days just before toward Christmas, Mother Nature gave us a good excuse to slow down and consider the true meaning of the holiday. Her message came in the form of 1/10th of an inch of ice, and she spread it over everything. Ice, freezing rain and freezing fog makes for some beautiful scenery…and some very dangerous driving conditions. We stayed close to home until the roads had been treated. Fortunately, the extreme cold we have been living with preserved the ice until well into the morning.
This post is part of Linda G. Hill’s fun weekly series One-Liner Wednesday. If you have a one-liner, I’d encourage you to join in on the fun. You can follow this link to participate and to see the one-liners from the other participants. I almost forgot, this is also part of #JusJoJan – Thanks Linda for the prompts!
Wow a cold winter! I haven’t seen icicles for decades! Those are nice pictures you took there.👍
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Thanks Liu. It will be warmer today, high of 26°f (-3°c) but we’re expected to get a lot of snow overnight.
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This reminds me of last winter, when we had so much ice that it made me nervous to walk across the parking lot to my car…not to mention the layers that had to be scraped off the car. I was thinking ice might be better than the frigid cold, but no…it’s easier to drive on frozen pavement than iced pavement. Happy Wednesday, Dan.
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Thanks Mary. If it has to do something, I would rather it snow. Then again, it looks like I better be careful what I wish for, because snow is in the forecast. The last time I tried driving in ice, I smacked a column in a parking lot. I’m staying off the roads if I can.
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I agree. Snow is the best scenario of the three if we can’t have mild and sunny days.
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It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen icicles – they look cute on Snoopy’s house!
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I thought so too, but Snoopy (well, the current occupant) wasn’t very happy. I think they expect the landlord to clear that.
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You’d better get to it before they refuse to pay the rent!
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🙂
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Dan, you be careful out there with Maddie. A broken anything won’t be good for either of you. Can you say “The Day After Tomorrow?” 😳
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I’ll be careful, Cheryl. Faith got mom and dad – Grippers for our boots. If we can’t find a clear path in the ice, we just let Maddie fend for herself. That’s scary too, because if we let her off, she runs like a dingbat and she has fallen. I was worried when, in addition to the ice, Sammy showed up.
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Yikes. Maddie with a broken leg would be very challenging. So glad you guys have Faith. She was raised right. 😉
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Hope you have your Yaktrax strapped to your shoes/boots. If not, Maddie needs to buy you a pair for being such a good dad and walking her in that kind of weather. :-) The forecast here is for mid 20’s today with snow flurries or maybe some light ice. They’ve closed everything. Stay safe.
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Faith got us both (me and the Mrs.) grippers for just this occasion. We didn’t have them for that storm, but we opened them the day after. We will do our best to stay upright.
I hope the warmth you drove down there for, shows up soon.
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Great weather to stay home in, Dan! I’m happy because this morning the temperatures, both real and with wind chill, are in positive territory, although the latter just barely. However, it’s a huge improvement over wind chills of -20 or more, so I shall be happy. I do have to go out shortly, to the dentist for a regular cleaning and later to run some errands. Other than that, I’ll enjoy the relative warmth of the house and hope you can do the same until the roads clear. I enjoy snow; ice not so much unless it’s on a skating rink or at a hockey game.
janet
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Snow is in our forecast, Janet, but I’m planning to work from home if it shows up. Between the weather and the idiots on the road, it’s not safe to drive.
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Excellent idea and wonderful that you can do that. Bill’s been working from home for several years now and he loves it.
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I can’t do it on a regular basis, but when the weather is threatening, I can. Some of our employees are full-time remote workers, but I’m mostly on-site.
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Dangerous as it is, I love ice. You got great captures of the ice on branches — love those. Had been enjoying Janet’s, too. Always a beautiful sight to behold.
We had snow that turned to ice, always our street. Four years here, and I tell you my street may be the best predictor of winter’s weather!
Salt is a marvel, until it’s tracked in the house. Then it’s an ARGH.
Have a great day, Dan!
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That’s funny. Sometimes we ask if our street is really in the same neighborhood as the airport. We look at their weather (less than 2 miles away) and we look outside, and it doesn’t seem possible.
I love the ice on the branches, but I have to remind myself that that means it’s on the ground. I keep the driveway and sidewalk safe, but we don’t put salt out in the back ‘cuz Maddie. We bought a couple bags of “pet safe” stuff for the back steps. My fear is that Maddie will see something and pull me along with her.
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I share your fear. A few enthusiastic lunges in or out have taught me it’s best I let go, like a ski rope!
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Exactly
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I know it is dangerous, but those ice photos are really pretty. Whew! For a minute I thought the base of Mt Maddie was a frozen turtle. Maddie is amazing–neither snow nor rain…..she is so pretty.
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Thanks Lois. It looks like we might get enough snow to start a proper Mt. Maddie. Hard to say. It’s one of those 3-10″ possible. In other words, they don’t know either.
Maddie is ready for anything.
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I like those icicles on the birdhouse. I didn’t think there would have been enough heat in it to melt the ice, but perhaps it came from the sun hitting the dark surface and warming it up.
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Actually, those icicles are just growing through accretion. The water is supercold, and it freezes as soon as it hits anything (even an icicle). If you look close, the roof of the birdhouse is also covered in ice. All you can do is spread some sand and salt or wait for the sun to go to work.
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Great photo story, Dan. The photo of Snoopy’s house captures the chill and makes it real. Great job. :)
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Thanks Gwen. The bird living in that house was none too happy. Walking by, it did make me feel even colder.
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I love LOOKING at the ice coating, but I sure do hate DEALING with it. Great pictures. Pats to Maddie!
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I’ll give Maddie a pat, if we get back inside safely after tomorrow’s storm. We’re supposed to get a bunch of snow and that’s when she goes crazy.
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SNOW! MT. MADDIE! ~frolic frolic~ (Maddie, not me.)
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If we get the snow they’re talking about, we will have a good start on Mt, Maddie. If that happens, I’ll try my best to capture the frolicking redhead.
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Brrr… You will get a good start on Mount Maddie tomorrow. I’m glad I don’t live close to the Cape.
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That is the forecast, Jennie. Hopefully, I’ll be working from home. Stay safe and warm.
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Will do. You, too.
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I’d rather have a foot of snow than half an inch of ice. At least snow can be walked on without falling (unless you have a strong dog on leash trying to pull you off your feet). Our snow has crusted over and sections of the backyard are, in fact, slippery. Cody almost pulled me down twice this morning, but fortunately she stops pulling immediately if she knows I’m having trouble. Be careful out there, Mark.
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Maddie is reluctant to stop pulling, but (sorry) we do have a fence, so we can let go. Sometimes, the snow does get that frozen layer on top, but I still tend to break through and sink.
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Oh my, I hope your trees are not too damaged by this sleet. Four years ago it destroyed much of Slovenian woodland and there were casualties too. It also broke down the fence of the Ljubljana ZOO so that a couple of lynxes escaped. One met a terrible end and I wrote about it in my first blog post ever. It looks pretty though.
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The power companies and towns around here have been aggressively trimming trees to prevent damage, for several years (after a storm that left us without power for 10 days).
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Ice is nice, but heat is neat.
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Haha – that is so true, John.
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After seeing a lot of snow photos, this was a great difference. I’m still very afraid of the cold, but those are epic photos.
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Thanks. I would take snow over ice, any day. You can clear snow away. You can walk in it. You can drive through it. None of which can be done with ice.
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Can’t tell you much I hate walking on ice. It has to be the old folks biggest fear. The pictures of it are beautiful.
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In separate incidents, my wife and I both fell a couple of years ago. Bruised, but bruised take longer to heal these days.
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I know. I’m on a cane right now myself.
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Ouch
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I know right? Blown meniscus.
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:(
I hope they can fix that.
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Me too. Won’t know until Jan 9. Had an MRI and now the consultation is on the 9th
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Wow! I’d encourage you to “stay warm” but you probably already knew that. Lovely pictures.
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Ha ha. We do try, but it’s been a challenge.
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My slow down message came in the form of the flu! Take care out there Dan!
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Ugh, I’m sorry. I hope you’re feeling better.
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Reblogged this on Ancien Hippie.
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Thank you so much!
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It looks cold all right.
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These are really great photos. But I think you took your life in your hands to take them.
I love the frozen branches, and the icicles over the new shed door and on Snoopy’s House. But most of all I love the tree stump. The more I look at it, the more it looks like a big old turtle!! No Dan, I don’t drink!
Hope you and The Editor and Maddie stay upright. Don’t wanna see any photos from your hospital bed!
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I took these while walking Maddie in the course of her business. So, no choice for me. We are very careful. I didn’t venture out on the roads until they had been treated.
Someone else mentioned the stump looking like a turtle. I’ll have to look again. It may be covered in snow by tomorrow.
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Dan, Ice is Nice in photos only. You got some really good ones. Do remember “ice” when I lived in New Jersey. Slipped on it and fell. Not a good memory. Glad you were careful and Maddie didn’t pull you on the steps. Checked weather. Maybe some snow tomorrow in CT. Yikes, temps are so cold there, daytime teens and single digits at night. Sending you some SoCal warmth & sun. Christine
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Thanks Christine, we can use the warmth. After the snow, it’s supposed to get very cold. Friday and Saturday lows of -3 and -8 respectively. They haven’t pinned down the amount of snow we might get tomorrow. Maybe 6-10″
We try to clear the stairs before taking Maddie out. Sometimes, we try to just let her go, but she either sits by the door, or runs and plays but forgets the reason she wanted out..
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Freezing rain and ice storms make for pretty pictures, but they’re what I hate about winter.
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I understand. I was very happy to be at home when this mess started and to not have to leave until the rain had stopped and the roads were safe to drive on. Ice is he worst part of winter.
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Sometimes even walking is dangerous, so be careful. I had to have a shoulder put back together because of ice.
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Ouch! I have much respect for ice.
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Me too. We have slip on cleats for our boots if it gets bad.
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Us too.
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Ice storms are so pretty, but not so nice when it knocks out power for a few days in the cold … at least that’s what always seems to happen here. I’m just as glad we didn’t get this one.
Did you get walloped by the weather bomb yesterday? The news reports showed some seriously treacherous conditions! I feel badly for the people along the coast affected by the flooding – at these temperatures!!!
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We got about 10” of snow. The wind was the worst 25-45 mph. Very difficult clean up. Now heading back below zero (f) tonight. Brrr.
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That’s a big chunk of snow, but I appreciate it could have been much worse. It is really frigid outside and I sympathize with anyone who needs to work outdoors. Stay warm! We should be getting a break next week.
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Yes, upper 20s and some 30s – WooHoo.
I was just out cleaning up what had been blown back in the driveway. It cold 💨💨⛄️
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I hated ice storms growing up…had an episode when I first got my drivers license….let’s just say a large Ford LTD Station Wagon doesn’t come to a complete stop readily when you need it to on let’s say an ice covered road that comes up to a stop sign at an ice covered highway….thats what snow banks and ditches are made for!!
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Ouch – I do my best not to drive in ice. A couple of years ago, I stopped for coffee on my way to work. The rain had changed to freezing rain, and my coffee run was interrupted by my bumper meeting a brick post.
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ouch on that one…mine involved a late night call to my parents to get a tow truck….not one of my finer moments :)
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