Shattered Glass Falling--the Sound of Freezing Rain

This morning I wake up to my heat pump groaning sourly.  I peek out the bathroom window to see why, although it's quite a responsibility to be under right now, sucking air through snow, to keep my place toasty or cool, according to its boss, the thermostat.  24/7 job!  I try to make life easier on the heat pump.  A technician who loves his job complained to me about how people abuse their heat pumps and as a result, pay out more to the electric company.  "It's justice," he said grimly.  Maybe he's spent a lot of time with heat pumps.

"Don't be adjusting your thermostat up or down more than three degrees," he advised.  "Two would be better.  If you want to go down or up more, then wait til those degrees are achieved."

So I stood by that heat pump loving man's words.

My heat pump this morning, groaning like that, well I jumped into my clothes and ran out to free its wings and lungs of ice and snow.

After I shoveled snow and ice from around the pump, I took this photo through my bathroom window.

And this one of my neighbors roof.

And another.  She doesn't use her wood stove.  (or chimney)

Outside, the snow was crunchy and a the ice fell from the sky like rain.   I love the tinkling shattered glass sounds of freezing rain.  Although I know freezing rain is the worst thing that could fall.  It attaches to then brings down the likes of power lines and tree limbs with its weight.  And I wonder how much weight my roof can hold.

But its danger is sheltered, disquised by that lovely innocent Christmas tinkling angelic sound of ice falling from the sky.  Deadly the danger, so lovely the sound.  Like a duck, hearing the call through the dawn of some beady hunter huffing on a call stick, I stood transfixed and pulled into the dreamy tragedy.

Another out my bathroom window.  I couldn't get through the gate to the heat pump without a lot of effort pushing back the snow behind it.

Last night I cleared a path from my door to the driveway, which is buried still.  More snow covers the path this morning, and cat prints through the snow too.

The prints continued onto my front porch then down along my house, under the eaves, and across to my neighbors porch.  This is likely the prints of one of two cats owned a block over, although they no longer really care for the cats.  My neighbor and I do.

I heard on the news this morning the freezing rain is expected to continue through the day, but it is a sign warming is coming.  Hopefully power lines won't go down with it and all will soon be back to normal.

I love the snow.   Reminds of my days in Alaska.  Makes me feel clean, pure, alive.  I don't mind the cold either.