Things That Go Crash in The Night

Monday night, just before dark, it started.  The weather people had been predicting it for days before it actually happened.  I really hate when they get everyone all stirred up about a possible storm.  We watched the weather map, slowly but surely it was tracking our direction, just as they said it would.



flower garden and frog pond beyond the chair.....



People were rushing to the grocery to get milk and bread, I heard that by Monday evening shelves were empty of bread and milk.  Really?  Are we going to parish if we don't have bread and milk for a few days? 

We had snow on the ground before this storm brought freezing rain to our area late in the night.  By morning we awoke to ice covered snow.  The day progressed with off and on snow, rain or sleet.  Then the second phase of this storm hit us.  Rain and below freezing temperatures!

The ice started accumulating on the branches, I look out the window and see the ice covered branches bending low to the ground.  The pine tree out front had branches resting on the ground from the weight of the ice.  Then the crashing began..........

Branches from the trees that surround our house started breaking.  The ice covered branches hit the roof and skittered off and to the ground.  Some limbs hit the roof with large thumps and chunks of ice clambered down the roof.  Things continued to crash for hours in the night.

The little dogs were uneasy and stayed near me for protection.  I tried to remain calm, it helped to play some flutes quietly.  Finally we all just went to bed, nothing can change what Mother Nature had planned  for this night.  Branches of  thick ice sparkled in the reflection of the nightlight.  Beauty comes even in the harshest times.



looking toward the studio from the back door.....



Sometime around three A.M. the sounds changed, the direction of the storm had turned from northeast to the west.  The wind picked up, the sound of hail or ice was hitting our bedroom window.  I said a little prayer and drifted back to sleep.

In the light of the early morning, I could see that everything had changed since going to bed.  There was no ice on the branches, it must have become very warm at three in the morning, the sounds I heard was the melting ice falling away from the branches.  Branches that were bowing down with the weight of ice only hours before were now free and waving in the wind.

Our yard is littered with broken branches, we could hardly get out the back door because of the broken limbs.  It will take hours of work to get it all cleaned up.  It can't happen until our ice rink, that was our back yard, melts and that isn't going to happen any time this week.  The next phase of the storm was white out blowing snow most of the day.  I prefer snow to things that go crash in the night.