Scenes from an icy morning

It's not January any longer. For each of the last two days, temperatures here reached about 48F (+9C). Snow is melting. The sun was out. Lots of ice around. It's much nicer than it had been.

But just a week ago, we were dealing with this ...


And it's a great season for big, long icicles. This hangs on the garage next door ...


On Wednesday, I had a meeting far out of town, and I had to leave home about 5:30 a.m. I took my camera along, in case I saw something I wanted to remember.

This was while it was still January, weatherwise if not otherwise. The temperature was close to zero F when I left, with the eastern sky just starting to lighten. As I drove along, it got a little brighter. And colder. Here is what the little thermometer on my car's rear-view mirror said ...

(That's -22C, FYI.)

When the sun started peeking above the horizon, many of the trees and bushes seemed to be glowing. Their branches were covered in white. Hoarfrost. Ice crystals that had formed from moisture in the air that clung to the branches and froze ...


But as the sun rose on the subzero morning of Jan. 66, it showed some lovely sights for the early bird behind the wheel. The view from the driver's seat ...


I had left early enough that I had time to stop for a photo or two as the opportunity arose. Obviously, I enjoy taking pictures.

But the road is just two lanes wide, and I didn't want to turn around. So when I discovered smoke and fog teaming up to form a cloud over a tiny town I was entering, I got out of the car and walked back about 150 yards to an place where trees prevented the sun from shining on me and the camera. In the background, my car idles ...

Yes, it was a cold walk.

On I went. I saw some ice and snow-covered pine branches and thought that would be worth showing you ...


By now the sun was getting a little higher in the sky, but it was still mighty cold. I saw the fog hanging over this stretch of road and decided to stop again and take a little hike ...


It was so warm in the car, I had taken my gloves off. A few steps out of the car, the cold reminded me that they were still inside. But I pressed on and got my photo. Then I went back to the car, wondering just how cold it was.

Here is my answer ...

That's -28C. Cold enough for anybody, right?