Random Acts of Living


Sunday, December 9, 2007

Snow & Ice

The pictures below weren't taken in Kansas, but not far from it. These are from the flat lands of Colorado, directly across the Kansas western border. They're from the 1948 blizzard. The first is a snowdrift next to the buildings and the second is a young boy standing next to a full size windmill.

On the weather reports tonight I have been hearing the weathermen refer to the ice storm of 2005, so I thought I would post some of my pictures from that storm. This first one I call my Ice Ghost or Ice Spirit. This was how the moisture dripped and froze on my rose bush.

This picture is at my daughter's house. I looks a lot worse than it turned out to be. It just pulled some trim off. They were fortunate, nothing went through the house.
This is looking inside the yard. Their BBQ grill was destroyed as was their swing.
This is looking out my backdoor. I have a maple tree that shades the back of the house and this is what is weighed down with ice and blocking the doorway.
My backyard with the power line going across it.
Here's a National Guard Humvee. They were called out because we lost water pressure and the the generator that the city bought was too small to do the job. I wonder if they've got a better generator on it now? Hmmmm...
These are the maple trees in my front yard. There's a children's picnic table under there. Can you see it? Blue and pink.
Here's a shot of the broken tops of one of the maples in the front yard.
This is what I think is a pretty picture of the ice on the tree limbs. Can't recall ever seeing it like this before. It's like the trees have teeth.



15 comments:

Anita said...

Gorgeous!
Those top two remind me of pictures my in-laws used to have...

Sounds like we're in for another storm... they are talking 1" of ice in the next 24 hours with wind chills below 0 here... What's the forecast sound like in your neck of the woods? Probably the same..?

Peter said...

Hi! I thought I had a problem with the current heat and drought! Keep safe - regards Peter

Moonshadow said...

Anita - sounds like we're getting the same forecast you are. My hubby told me a little bit ago that the forecast is for a repeat of 2005.

Peter - Thanks for the good thoughts. I cancelled my Dr's appointments that I was suppose to have today so I don't get caught out in any bad weather. Now I just have to reschedule.

Anita said...

At least here in Greensburg we don't have to worry about our trees getting torn up...lol... we don't have trees, we have trunks... :D

Moonshadow said...

The birds have enjoyed the damage done by the 2005 storm. I guess I'll have to see about getting some pictures tomorrow to show you. The broken stumps get new growth around the outer edges and the birds make their nests on the broken "platform". You can really see them now that the leaves have fallen.

Kathy said...

I feel very fortunate to have escaped any bad ice or snow storms thus far this season. The northeast usually has some crazy weather by now, but it's been incredibly mild and barely any snow to speak of.

Hope you don't have to worry about a repeat of that storm. Losing electricity is more than an inconvenience. I could lose all the food in my refrigerator, but take away my computer and I'm done for!
Kathy at The Junk Drawer

Anita said...

well, there are very few trees here other than about 8' of tree trunk since the tornado... Most of them are being removed...

Moonshadow said...

Kathy - Losing power has been tolerable, till now. My pocket pc died the other day and it will be a few more days before I can expect a replacement. With it I could get online in a reduced manner, but I could check things out and post if I needed to. The food has never been a problem. We close up the kitchen and stay warm with the gas oven. The living room is then usually cold enough to use as a refrigerator, freezer stuff can go in the frig on the porch because it's usually still below freezing outside.

Anita - did a group bring new trees and plant them in Greensburg recently? I know there was a drive to raise money to do that. I thought they were purchasing some fairly large trees. I know they couldn't have gotten enough to replace all that were destoyed, but I thought it was a fairly sizable amount they were shooting for.

KSHIPPYCHIC said...

WOW! Cool pictures! I am just waiting for some sunlight here! That is pretty much what it looks like here in my neighborhood right now - trees down everywhere! It's not supposed to stop all day *sigh*

Anita said...

They planted some in one of the parks, but none in residential areas yet... they are still in the process of removing the old ones...

KSHIPPYCHIC said...

How's it in your neck of the woods yet?? :)

Moonshadow said...

Things haven't been too bad here. Kinda strange, really. It isn't warm enough to melt off the limbs and branches but not cold enough to freeze the roads and sprinkles. It WILL freeze though, as night settles in and it gets colder.

Black_Mamba said...

Tha last pic looks so surreal. Part ravishing, part grotesque, but entirely awesome.

Moonshadow said...

The whole experience was rather surreal. To see those big, strong trees bent over, weighed down with ice, creaking and crackling.

WichitaKsDailyPhoto said...

Ice storms leave pretty crystal clear coating on everything, and it's nice to see. But, seeing the damaged trees and downed power lines, and outages, are the downside. I consider ice storms as being Mother Natures way of pruning dead wood from overgrown trees. It's really something to be sitting in the house, and hear limbs cracking and falling outside. If you are without power, I hope it gets restored soon, and that you find ways to keep warm in the meantime.