Ice

We have had one heck of a winter.  I mean honestly, it's been horrible.  We have had many days in the single digits, and several in the negatives with the wind chill.  It's been COLD.  And icy.  We have had two different ice storms this year, and one snowfall.  The weathermen have had us on the edge of our seats all winter, predicting nothing but doom and gloom day in and day out.  We have been VERY fortunate to have dodged a few other storms as well.  The kids have used six "snow days" this year.  That's ridiculous.  They have been miserable.  They have been cooped up in the house because you can't make a snowman with ice, and nobody wants to be outside in -5 degree windchill.  And I'm not even mean enough to make them go outside in that mess.  

I hate the cold.  I hate the winter.  This weather is not what I signed up for when we decided to plant ourselves and take root in the South.  This sucks.  

Anyhow, we had a decent ice storm last week.  Ice storms are something else.  They are absolutely beautiful and breathtaking to behold, but cause so much damage that it's hard to regard them with beauty.  This one was no exception.

We are very fortunate to be tied into city power rather than the power company that most of our area uses.  We have honestly only lost power once since we have lived here, and that was during the terrible tornado season a few years back.  But even then, the power was out for less than an hour.  Some of my friends were our of power with this storm system for three days due to all the downed trees and power lines.  I took these pictures while driving around the area two days after the storm.  A lot had melted by then, so you can only imagine how much ice there truly was right afterwards.

  

And three days after the ice storm, we ended up with a few inches of snow.  And the folks that just had power restored lost it again due to more downed lines and trees.

This is city hall.  There is a very quaint town square right up the street from our house (remember, we live in a historic district).  All of the buildings are old and have been restored.  It's my favorite part of living in this city. 

I am not a big fan of the groundhog these days.  I'm tired of winter, and I'm tired of the cold.  I am hoping and praying that we have NO MORE ICE this winter, and no more temperatures in the single digits.  My Arizona blood will never get used to it!