Dodging big hunks of frozen landscape...
...known during sunnier, warmer times as 'tree branches'. These beloved summer friends who used to keep my ancient house in blissful August shade have become January's gravity -prone guided missiles in the last 24 hours. To the left of me is the huge bank of dining room windows which overlook an ice encrusted street -said street being half blocked by a giant branch which I can't lift, and would likely kill myself trying to get to anyway.
But no matter: the street crews are out, prowling the neighbourhood for projectiles. I'm grateful that the huge limb in the side yard -if it was destined to come down- landed exactly in between my two skylights, then slid down to the picnic table with a crash.The bubbled windows which overlook the stairwell are still in tact -but only by inches.
If you stand out on my front porch, you can see your breath billowing out - the silence is clear and still, and then the loud CRACK shatters the air. If you listen, you can hear tree branches shattering all over town, like the ring of a slugger's bat. I'll have to bundle up here pretty soon, and go out back to calculate the damage. I'll have to be careful, because I know what it's like to slip and almost take myself out . This was back in my thirties, when I moved a lot faster and premeditated things a lot less. One who has cracked their tailbone not once but twice over the years going flat on the ice reverts to primitive measures of survival - I carry a can of French rock salt in a holster these days, like a gunslinger. No more fooling around. Though it's true that nothing will grow up close to the front steps from now until the end of time, it's okay. Maybe I can stick some big plastic ferns out there or something next spring...this seems like a small enough trade-off for not ending up in traction, I guess. Shoot. Maybe I'll just quit pretending and pave the front yard.
It sounds as though the rest of this ice tantrum is headed over to Tennessee...take cover, Karen and company. I bet school will be the last thing on anybody's mind in the morning.
4 Comments:
You know what works well for scattering salt or 'ice melt?' A hand held, crank fertilizer spreader!
I discovered this useful item a year or so ago. If you use anything with chemicals, (ice melt)wear a mask.
By veronikkamarrz, Jan 27 09 11:51 AM
Oh wow! The ice storm is headed our way. I hope it isn't as bad as your describing it. Last year at school, I slipped on some ice and fell down about ten steps so I know how you feel. If I were you, I'd stay indoors.
By kitkat121080, Jan 27 09 1:07 PM
Good luck continuing to dodge.
I've put salt down, too, and always the day before a thaw. But the nearest I've come to falling branches was finding a roughly-shaped lump of wood on my car. Sabotage? It took me a while to think of looking up, but it was a window sill that had dislodged itself, and had slid down and landed on the boot.
Yes, I know, not in the same league as yours. I feel quite spoilt. Keep safe!
By lesley153, Jan 27 09 1:07 PM
I'm very thankful you are safe and your home is in one piece, Kate. That is the price we pay when we live where winter becomes a beautiful, but sometimes deadly weapon. I feel like I can hear that stillness and then the crack because it's such a familiar sound. Shudder...
By jordandog, Jan 28 09 3:45 PM