Eclectic is the word for On the Road this week. Something new and different from Albatrossity. Glacier National Park with realbtl, and Sandstone Peak with BillinGlendale. Then ema takes us on a trip to exotic New Jersey, and Elma brings us home on Friday to her very own Mr. Frog.
After that, we have only enough On the Road submissions for just one more week. And then nada. So if you’ve been thinking about submitting something, this is a great time to do it.
Albatrossity
Fire and Ice
Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.
~Robert Frost
A change of pace from birds this week.
On the night of Dec 10-11, 2007, there was an ice storm that basically hammered the entire state of Kansas. It is considered to be the most damaging ice storm in the recorded history of the state, with ice accumulations of 1-2 inches in much of the state and 4-5 inches in some spots. Power lines were snapped, power poles were brought down, and lots of people were without power for the next few days and even weeks.
The power in our house was only off for 8 hours or so (pro-tip: in regions prone to ice storms, buy a house on the same substation grid that powers the local hospital or medical clinic), but the sound of tree limbs snapping echoed like rifle shots through the neighborhood for the next couple of days. The Manhattan Christmas Bird Count was scheduled for Saturday Dec 15 that year, and it was a bit treacherous to get out and count birds that day, but we took extra caution and completed the count as scheduled.
The next day dawned clear and bright, so I went out and slid around some country roads to get pictures of ice-covered trees and plants, five days after the storm itself. Ice is treacherous, but it can also be spectacularly beautiful.
So here are some images, in no particular order, from that day. I’ll add no captions, because it was hard to ID the plants under their icy blankets, but feel free to chime in with plant information in the comments!
On The Road – Albatrossity – IcePost + Comments (14)