The Big Ice Storm - Part 1

We'd had a combination of snow, sleet and freezing rain for several days, and everything was coated with at least 1/4" of ice. Some places, like my car's windshield, had 3 or 4" of ice. The morning chores became truly "a chore." Besides the difficulty of walking, simply unchaining and opening a gate was difficult:

The apple trees were ice covered and, to my surprise, were actually holding up the power line. That's when I was glad I'd never gotten around to pruning them:

The hay bales were covered with thick ice and snow.The snow on the ground was 18" deep on the level, and drifted to several feet - and all crusted over with ice:

I let the cattle stay inside the barn all day long instead of locking them out during the day as I usually did. They were more comfortable, but I had twice as much manure to clean in the morning:

And the poor cows were ravenously hungry, tucking into their food bowls like starving waifs. Their coats were covered with ice:

 

The cedars were coated with ice, their branches sagging to the ground:

And great piles of heavy snow and ice lined the driveway:

This poor cedar looked like a drunk, staggering home after a bender:

The apples were covered with ice:

And I began wondering why I hadn't retired to Florida, where I could at that very moment be sitting poolside with a cool drink in my hand:

The farm sign seemed to survive the storm without damage:

And the corn field across the road (behind the trees) was a thing of beauty. For all its fearsome intensity, the storm truly left some glorious sights in its wake. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow: