Ice storms can be devastating and we dodged a bullet with this most recent one, up here on Nonesuch Mountain. The power stayed on and we did not get anywhere near the forecast amount of snow to complicate things so, for now, it looks like broken branches are the worst of the damage. The town road crew (bless their hearts) did a bang-up job getting our road clear, adapting to the icy, wood-strewn conditions by putting a plow blade and chains on the front end loader and shoving everything to the side, to be dealt with later.
All the trucks were running today.
One of the first things I saw this morning was a sun dog. I have not been able to get many good shots of sun dogs but I like this one. It may have formed in the condensation trail of a jet.
I’m afraid this old birch has about had it.
Some other shots:
A series of “mixed precipitation events” is forecast over the next week or so. It’s probably pushing it to hope they are all as manageable (and pretty) as this one.
The View from Fish in a Barrel Pond 
The birch will spring back. A resilient bunch they are.
Clif – I am always amazed at how far birches can bend without breaking, especially the young ones. I’ve seen them bend under heavy snow and spend the winter with their topmost branches frozen to the ground, popping right back up in spring. The big one in the yard, however, will be seriously reduced if it survives.
I especially like the last 3 photographs. The Rudbeckia and milkweed are stunning.
A couple of us at the farm managed to get some nice shots of the ice coated apple trees.