It's 95 Degrees Right Now, So Here Are Photos Of Our Ice Storm

Rummaging through some photos the other day, I found shots of our ice storm five years ago. It was a major weather event, with ice encasing everything for days and days.

Many people in our area were without electricity for 10 days or more. We were lucky.

Although our weather head was knocked off like everyone else, the wires didn’t lose connection. We lost Internet access for about six hours, but otherwise didn’t suffer much. They showed video of our house on the news because we had lights on at night and none of the neighbors did. It was weird.

Our neighbor wasn’t as lucky, so we ran long extension cords between our kitchens so they could cook and keep at least part of the house warm.

The long, sharp cracks of the wood splitting was nearly constant and always haunting, especially deep in the night. The ice from the limbs shattering against the ground were thousands of anguished voices, protesting against the cold.

Everyone dragged fallen limbs to the curb, where city work crews eventually got it all cleared away. One enterprising person near our house put a sign on his pile, "Wood For Sale."

In unsheltered places, the wind blew the mist in different directions, so the icicles that formed pointed in different directions.

After being trapped indoors for many days, we were happy to see the sunshine. Most of the trees in our neighborhood survived, but they all still show their scars.