The Ice Age Comes to Floyd
1. For some reason whenever the electric power goes out I begin to feel that my normal clothes look dirty and I wonder why I didn’t do a wash yesterday when I had the chance. When water doesn’t run freely from my faucets, I’m thirstier than normal and start to feel that I simply must wash my hair.
2. We have a generator but discovered it was broke when the ice storm caused the power to go out at 11:00 a.m. on Friday. Even if it was working, ours doesn’t generate enough energy to run the water heater or cook on the electric stove. I’m not much of a cookout griller, but I bought a grill a few years back because it had a propane burner on one side that I knew I would use for emergency tea making. I can do without a lot of things, but tea isn’t one of them.
3. The dogwood tree in front of the house, laden with ice, has bent forward and reaches the porch now. I open the front door and say to myself, “Oh, look who came to visit.”
4. Being colder than the rest of the south and warmer than the north makes Virginia prone to ice storms. What would be snow is rain. What should be rain turns to ice. Ice is pretty to look at but does a lot of damage.
5. My yard looks like the Ice Queen’s Palace from Narnia. Such a treacherous beauty. Diamonds couldn’t be any prettier. Icicles sparkle in the sun.
6. It sounds like a shooting gallery. Pop. Pop. Bang. Trees branches, too heavy with ice, snap and crash down. As the day warms, it begins to rain melting ice. Avalanches of it periodically fall from the roof.
7. A walk to the mailbox can be dangerous. The dog is skittish and won’t come. A tree seems to explode close by. I duck and run. Everything smells like fresh pine, the most vulnerable tree to ice damage. Some trees are completely uprooted. Others bow and lean, making an archway to walk under.
8. By the late afternoon, the sound of the tree falling blitz has been replaced by the hum of the new generator, arrived just in time to save the food in our fridge and our freezer full of venison.
Comments
Although these storms can be a nuisance, they provide such gorgeous pictures.
Posted by: inlandempiregirl | February 2, 2008 11:07 PM
The pictures are lovely, and I'm so sorry you're tea-less, because with tea, the frustration of an ice storm turns into the coziness of an afternoon at home.
Michele sent me.
Posted by: MissMeliss | February 2, 2008 11:31 PM
We have had too many storms like that here, Colleen. It can be beautiful and horrid at the same time.
Posted by: kenju | February 3, 2008 12:13 AM
what an excellent post! Sounds like extreme conditions but it does make for wonderful photos, the icicles are magnificent
Posted by: Crafty Green Poet | February 3, 2008 4:43 AM
Pretty to look at...the key word being "look"! Keeping in the 70s down here in Florida.
Posted by: June | February 3, 2008 5:14 AM
Fabulous pictures especially the angelic ?fountain , and your discouraged face hahah
Posted by: sandy kessler | February 3, 2008 8:13 AM
lotsa ice... take care.
Posted by: Shelby | February 3, 2008 10:57 AM
Being the relatively weather-spoiled California girl I am, I've never seen anything like this. It's beautiful, but holy smokes, it looks cold.
Posted by: deirdre | February 3, 2008 1:02 PM
wow, I hate ice storms. Hate them. But they are fascinating to look at. And provide a wonderful source for picture taking. But I hate all the branches and full trees we lose when we have these storms.
Posted by: kacey | February 3, 2008 2:53 PM
Greetings and thanks for visiting my blog. I note you're the second "Blue Ridge" person, I've become familiar with. The first was Marie Freeman up in Boone, NC.
I really need to head east of the Mississippi more.
Cheers.
Posted by: R. Sherman | February 3, 2008 5:08 PM
I love ice storms. I mean the look of them. There's nothing fun about losing power when it's freezing cold out! We had a brief one on Friday but now it's 50 degrees. Weird!
Here via michele!
Posted by: panthergirl | February 3, 2008 5:09 PM
Hi Colleen! Amazing photos and your writing is
so vivid -- I felt like I was right there. I could
totally smell the pine trees and see the sun
sparkle in the icicles!
:)
Posted by: Clare | February 3, 2008 5:42 PM
My Lord, these are amazing and BEAUTIFUL pictures, Colleen..Scary, I know, with the breakage of branches, etc....But I LOVE that you got some photographs of this phenomenom....! I am thinking of getting a generator, and I DID do some research, and it seems quite a problem for many reasons....BUT, I am going to continue my research....! I'm glad you got your NEW Generator in time to save ALL your food...!
Posted by: OldOldLady Of The Hills | February 3, 2008 6:00 PM
The new generator is a push button, so will be easier for me to use if Joe isn't around. Our old one was started with a pull chain. A part on it seems to have melted, so we're wondering if something got fried, when and how. Not knowing it was broke had us caught off guard and lulled into a lack of preparation.
The new one cost $700. For $1,200 we could have gotten one that would provide enough energy to heat the water and work the stove, but I really don't worry too much about that stuff. I want the basic electric which will work the electric water pump, run lights, fridge, freezer, TV, internet. I can always heat water to wash, and cook on the grill burner or the woodstove. I'm happy we don't have to worry about heat when the power goes out because of our woodstove.
Posted by: colleen | February 3, 2008 6:18 PM
The pictures are gorgeous....sort of reminds me of the Rose. It has such beauty, but be careful of the thorns.
Posted by: Sherry | February 3, 2008 6:32 PM
Thanks for the Info, Colleen.....Do you have a name? Part of the problem we had here is needing a gas tank outside next to the generator...And the only place for it was out front....NOT such a great idea for many reasons...! Anyway, I thank you very much.
Posted by: OldOldLady Of The Hills | February 3, 2008 7:30 PM
yikes kinda pretty though
Posted by: Anne | February 3, 2008 8:39 PM
I love the gate and the dogwood especially. Beautiful.
Michele says hello tonight.
~S :)
Posted by: Shephard | February 3, 2008 10:30 PM
WOW! It all looks beautiful ... but I'm so glad I'm not there. I don't do cold very well ....
Posted by: omkiss | February 3, 2008 10:53 PM
Beauty is often a tricky mistress, biting those who approach too closely.
Thanks for sharing these, Colleen. The Canadian in me feels a very close affinity to ice storms and the temporary, dangerous landscapes they leave behind. Memories of the storm that devastated Montreal a decade ago remain vivid in my mind.
Glad you're back on the grid.
Posted by: Carmi | February 3, 2008 11:08 PM
And the groundhog saw its shadow.
Posted by: thebluestbutterfly | February 3, 2008 11:41 PM
Very cool pics, Colleen! It does look beautiful when the sun comes out but then the beauty is tainted with all the damage you see. Hope you didn't have too much.
Posted by: ruth | February 4, 2008 8:43 AM
The pictures are great! I love to see them. We only experience an ice storm about every 10 years maybe longer here.. The last one I remember was 12 years ago.
Posted by: Ivy | February 4, 2008 9:15 AM
we were recipients of the ice here, too. and what was interesting, was that i posted some very similar pictures. great minds.... :)
Posted by: bluemountainmama | February 4, 2008 12:52 PM
such beautiful and provocative images...making me remember my own ice storms, gorgeous and terrifying all at once. i recall willows hanging down to the ground, fortunately flexible enough to withstand their own heavy boughs. i know the sound of pines snapping in two, the scent you mention, the silence broken by breaking limbs. i know the danger of a walk to the mailbox when falling lines or trees can kill you.
such beauty amidst such danger.
Posted by: sky | February 4, 2008 2:13 PM
Sky poetry. I couldn't have said it better myself.
Posted by: colleen | February 4, 2008 3:40 PM
It's 45 below zero here.....
Posted by: Deb | February 8, 2008 12:08 PM