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Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Nature's Ice Sculptures...

Winter came down to our home one night
Quietly pirouetting in on silvery-toed slippers of snow,
And we, we were children once again.
~Bill Morgan, Jr.



Isn't there such a stark beauty in the whiteness of the snow contrasting with the darkness of the trunks and branches of the trees? I enjoyed vistas such as these on my drive home from work today. The weight of the snow and ice had the pine trees bending down almost as if in a bow of deference to the mighty wonder of Mother Nature. Of course, I wasn't thinking such thoughts early this morning. Oh no, I was much more concerned with keeping my car between the little ruts made by cars passing by before me. Yesterday morning we started the day with 6 inches of snow, followed by an entire evening of sleety rain. It left almost an inch of ice covering everything it touched. This morning was declared a snow emergency-level 2 and 3. But duty called, and I answered reluctantly. After I arrived at the donut place, it commenced to snowing again. Fast and furious, flakes as big as quarters or even larger. The cars in the parking lot were soon obscured by the additional 6 inches of frozen water flakes.

There were few brave souls who ventured out onto the clogged veins of snow and ice laden streets. But drywall must be made to eventually fortify the walls of other people's humble abodes. We soldiered on with a skeleton crew. The reports of road closures, and extreme warnings from official names resulted in the decision by the higher pay grades to cancel the 2 oncoming shifts. Equipment was shut down, lights turned off, and the worker bees released to find their way home.



This is the view that greeted me outside my kitchen door, as I stepped to the deck with my camera in hand. I had to preserve the beauty in that starkness at that precise second of time.






And so it goes......

9 comments:

Nixon said...

Damn, that much snow in Kentucky!!! Must be the end of times or something. Snowpocalypse 2009!

Tina said...

Pretty. It was vicious but amazing at my house too.

K-Dubyah said...

Nixon, (no LT?)
What did you expect here in the hills of Kaintuck? Yup, we get snow. This is the first "major" one that we've had. I'm hoping it will be the last one this year as well!

Tina,
I saw your pictures. Way more ice down your way than here. Makes for a long commute to work.
Try to stay warm!

Bob said...

Thanks for posting the snow pictures -- it kinda gives us a feel for what our son at Wright-Pat is looking at

Anonymous said...

Oh what a difference a few miles SOUTH makes! We had a few minutes of snow this morning that didn't stick. Our fear was that the water on the roads would turn to ice (it didn't).

It's nice to be below the Mason-Dixon! I know just the place you might like down here!

Anonymous said...

Bob,
I've heard tell that north of us had it a little worse. Just according to where in the snow band he is. I can tell y'all that it is cold!!!

WOTN,
you trying to rub it in that all y'all didn't get this stuff? :)
Really now? Tell me more...

The Duke said...

I always like how quiet it is after a big snow. The crunching of each footstep is amplified by the very lack of sound that surrounds it.

K-Dubyah said...

Ahh but Duke, if you would stop after each step and truly listen. There is no silence in nature.

Didn't you hear the squeak of the field mouse? Or the chirp of the cardinal as he found a seed kernel. Perhaps the rustle of brush as a rabbit bounded from his home. Can't you hear the rubbing of the tree branches as the wind whispers by them ever so softly?
No, tis not silence we hear, but the absence of our own noise that is the loudest.

K-Dubyah said...

Shea,
And where might that be? The last few days of sunshine should be helping melt that 2" of ice.

I know there are lots of area's in Ky that are still without power. In fact, Gov.Beshears has called out every last one of our National Guard to help restore power and dig people out from downed trees and such.

I have a few friends who are members of KyNG. So if you see Steve or Mike, tell 'em I said "Hey"!