Ice Storm

So we had an ice storm last night ... well, it's not over ... more expected later today.  Luckily, we still have power, but thousands don't; however, the branches on our beloved birch tree are bending and breaking from the weight :/

For those unfamiliar with what an ice storm is, no, it's not sharp ice falling from the sky and stabbing you in the face lol. 

Basically, it's a heavy amount of freezing rain that creates "black ice" that is so smooth, it just looks like water - everything is covered in a sheet of ice, and only turns to snow if the temperature drops lower.  It's called "black ice" because on roadways, it's so clear, it looks like the black-topped road itself.

And when I say everything, I mean everything - the grass itself is hazardous.  Our horse's blanket was an ice blanket, though Mark only arrived 30 minutes after the ice began to bring him in.  

The danger is, you think it's water and step or drive on it, and down you go, and this is even worse if there's a layer of snow overtop, because you don't know the "black ice" is there..  Also, branches breaking onto power lines and transformers blowing (thus the power outages). Also, salt is useless at a certain point.

The last time I saw one here in Lexington was before I moved to Florida in 2002 (moving back here in late 2005).  We lost power for four days.  

When I moved to Florida that summer, I said, "Hooray, we'll never have to deal with this again," - like an idiot - because in 2004/2005, we had three hurricanes, knocking out the power for weeks to months lol.  

The moral of that story is, be grateful for what you have, things could always be worse.