winter storm | reverse threading

these icicles are not for the meek. we are, luckily, not meek. we are well-versed in icicles and in the removal of icicles. well, at this moment, make that the continual removal of icicles.

the gutter guy came the other day. it was in the 20s out, so it felt like a heatwave. but not enough of a heatwave to do any work on the gutters. though we are scheduled for the future, we are still gutter-challenged, which makes us icicle-laden.

it helps to drive around our neighborhood of old houses and see other houses with hanging ice sculptures as well. usually, the only difference is that their sculptures are hanging off their extended soffit and fascia – something i wish we had on our steeply pitched cape cod roof. but alas, we don’t. so our icing is a tad more threatening to the inside of our home than theirs. suffice it to say, it does my heart good to see someone else with the same kind of gutter-roof setup as us. no, this is not schadenfreude. it is a shared sense of dread and a big outpouring of empathy.

so i try to take advantage of the unusual conditions and photograph the ice up close and personal, try to see the beauty of it, try to appreciate it. ahyup. it remains ice, nonetheless, and – for us – that is less than enthralling. were we to be viewing an icy waterfall or river we would be captivated. but the ice forming along our roof line holds little charm.

it is most definitely my hope that there is no ice on your roof, that your gutter flows freely, that no damn damming has come your way.

but if it has, know – in your heart – that we are in your camp, we stand – frozen – with you and it warms our heart to know we are not alone. we have wondered if there exist online support groups for ice-damming-survivors. we are ready to help with words of wisdom or tools of the trade should you need them.

because “some people are worth melting for.” (olaf – frozen movie)

*****

read DAVID’s thoughts this D.R. THURSDAY

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i’m sure the tree held on for dear life. perched among the big boulders on the shore of lake michigan, these trees have held on through many a storm, waves crashing past them, wind howling. only this time it was too much. it didn’t have a chance.

we could hear the lake from our house. the winter storm was raging and the intermittent crashes and booms were clearly devastation-in-the-making. when we drove big red over to see, it was astounding. the wind, the waves, ice had torn up and thrown entire chunks of sidewalk. boulders were thrown twenty feet. waves pelted the gazebo that sat back from the lake’s edge. trees were uprooted, glazed in thick shrouds of ice. the storm came and the storm left and the lakefront was forever changed.

in the littlehouse on island we watched the shoreline fade – many feet – over the course of a few months. waves from the south pounded the shore, eating away at earth and trees, demolishing the new dock. what it looked like when we first lived there is not what it looks like now, merely six months later. it is forever changed.

we aren’t big sitcom-watchers. but we are earth-show-watchers. it’s astounding to see how our good earth is mutating – through no fault of its own. profound. fires destroying ecosystems, displacing and killing wildlife, changing the horizon forever. glacial ice melting, challenging the arctic. earthquakes and tornadoes, hurricanes and tsunamis. toxic air forcing the use of face masks, and even of oxygen, the prevention of carbon dioxide in an environment less protected by photosynthesis and more consumed by greenhouse gas emission.

i have lived a couple blocks from the shore of lake michigan now for thirty years. the storms in the last ten years have been fierce. each one erodes the coastline a little more. walking along the water’s edge the-day-after made it all feel apocalyptic, these changes. ‘less is more’ the saying goes. then it alludes that more is even more, perhaps too much.

the tree held on for dear life. and lost. are we holding on for dear life? how are we long-term helping our good earth? how are we long-term hindering it? do we have a chance?

read DAVID’S thoughts this TWO ARTISTS TUESDAY

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reverse threading

the path back is the path forward

Tag Archives: winter storm

icicle-laden. [kerri’s blog on d.r. thursday]

hold on for dear life. [two artists tuesday]

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