Icy Day

Our entire county, indeed the whole northern Virginia area, is covered by a single solid sheet of ice. It all started out as an inch of ice, then six inches of snow, then another inch of ice. Then, the snow melted a bit in the sun, and overnight it all froze solid. Absolutely solid. I mean, you can jump up and down on this stuff, and you won't crack it. The berms at the end of the driveway are as solid as stone. People who haven't shoveled driveways yet will have to wait for the thaw. Even the snowplows have given up on the minor roads.

You've got to be really careful walking on the stuff, because you'll fall and break your neck if the wind catches you wrong. (Becky fell and hurt her wrist, but I think she's only got a small sprain.)

The ice does make for some really fine sledding, however. The boys have gotten the longest run ever in this ice.

Here's an example of how solid it is. I widened the driveway a tiny bit, and the chunks make quite a solid sound as they scrape across the ice.

Meanwhile, today for lunch, I took the family to Cate's, and we had a really nice lunch in the warmth of this cozy small-town restaurant: Fish and chips, clam chowder, barbecue sandwiches, and a cheeseburger. Afterwards, I took Frank for a long walk, as he simply refuses to go (neither number one nor number two) in this icy stuff. I finally got him to go without having to squeeze him like a cake decorator's tube of icing.

Finally, inspired by James' recent posts, here are some of the artsy shots I took on my walk with Frank.