Freezing rain and fried eggs

We woke early to check the weather. A storm would hit us, or not. The weather reports weren't clear.

About an hour after the coffee was made came the freezing rain (I wanted to say ice storm because that sounds more dramatic, but it was just rain that froze on contact with anything cold enough.). We watched the radar on the weather channel as we listened to the moisture falling - changing the morning in a matter of minutes.

The words scrolling across the TV screen reported work was delayed two hours again so we could afford to wait until daylight to take the puppies outside for breakfast. I cooked them eggs (a little extra protein cannot hurt).

The sidewalks were damp, but clear of ice. The road looked fine. [But reports of wrecks indicate bridges and overpasses are unsafe.]

I had to de-glove to pick up a fried egg. DH overfilled the dog dishes - "It's cold. They need a little extra food today." So one egg slipped off the kibble and had to be retrieved. On the way through the gate I felt it slick with a film of ice you could not see. The ice had fully encased our vehicles (the only spot with icicles I noticed - until the walk).

Weird little icicles on DH's car - we only got enough rain/sleet to make the bridges dangerous and require us to scrape the windshields (something I always forget until I get out to the car).

After giving giving them time to eat, I took the babies down the street for another short winter walk.

My view pretty much never changes...*

We noticed the difference between this walk and the others almost immediately. There was almost no wind. The birds were singing. Neighbors were out in their yards. Neighbors we have never seen before called "hello" and waived to us. We ran a little.

Continuing past our "it is too cold and windy, we must turn around" spot we wondered, would we, could we, make it to the park?

Yes, yes we could!

Happy dogs - they knew the park was still here.

The sun was attempting to escape the clouds.

I love this tree - spooky as it is in winter.

Sunlight reflected off the icy edges of the creek (near the park bridge).

We were surprised to see that sometime during these last couple of ice storms someone crashed into the bridge on the street just outside the park. This stretch of road is on a turn from one direction and down a hill/around a curve from the other. And this is proof of why they warn us about icy/slick bridges and overpasses. It doesn't look like they crashed completely through (or over) the railing/barrier. [And a good thing - from these photos you cannot see the 15 foot drop from the sidewalk to the creek bed.]

It doesn't look like much...

...until you get close and see the damage.

A jogger went running by:

Jogger - uphill is tough.

We saw a few other things as we walked along. First, we noticed that garbage containers are perfect hosts for tiny icicles:

One of the new containers. A neighbor had left this near the sidewalk.

An "old style" can turned on its side near an empty house.

The trash can in the park.

I love icicles. I found some on the bushes and grabbed a few photos of the rain frozen in drips - not traditionally shaped icicles. It didn't rain long enough for those.

This is my "keep the kids from running out into the street" hedge. It is made up of red tip photinias and variegated pittosporum bushes. I have chopped the devil out of it, but it continues to grow. It has served us well (even as it sits atop the buried phone line - but that is another story).

We saw and heard mockingbirds and so many other birds in the park. It was almost a wall of birdsong.** Then, as we turned for home, the dogs stopped and stared towards the line of pecans at the entrance to the park. I listed and heard the tap-tap-tap of a woodpecker. I can never tell if the bird I see is a downy or hairy one.***  Still I love woodpeckers and tried to find this bird today. But I coughed and we did not hear him again.

We saw a nightmare of dandelions in a neighbor's yard.

A "riot" of dandelions? A chaos of dandelions?

One dandelion (to make a wish!)

We notice our artist friend, Jane, had put a friendly looking rocker on her porch.

Yes, you have seen this porch before. The cat man once lived here.

We saw a flow of water from the house with the red door. I walked towards the back yard to see if I could tell where all the water was coming from and found a phone number on the "For Rent" sign resting next to the fence. I called and left a message. We knew the house was empty as we watched the "flashlight thieves" load up and drive away with their U-Haul truck (and our yellow flashlight).****

It is hard to tell from this photo, but the water was running into the street.

One of the best results of the walk was discovering that one of our neighbors is okay (we think). Recently we had noticed that no newspapers were being thrown at the home of a former co-worker of DH. She is one of those people we would see from time to time - at the polling place during elections or sitting on her porch on days she waited for a ride.***** We have not seen her recently.

While there was still no newspaper thrown today, I spied herself hurrying down the sidewalk and stepping into a car. "Great" I told myself. "She's fine. I'll check when they drive by to make sure it is her." ****** In the next instant the car u-turned and so I will have to take it on faith that all is well for now.*******


Happy dogs and a happy walker returned home warmed by the walk and by the sun this day:

Scruffy, distracted by something moving in the park.

Paddy listens for the woodpecker.

NOTES: 

* I love this insulated jacket DH and MC found at a gun show. They always bring me a present: a carved wooden bowl, a sewing machine, an olive drab jacket, or a gold edged rose pin. It is always nice to be thought of (except for the rose pin. That was pretty awful.).

** http://www.allaboutbirds.org/Page.aspx?pid=1189 (Cornell's site)
     http://txtbba.tamu.edu/ (an interesting site from Texas A&M)

*** http://birding.about.com/od/identifyingbirds/a/downyorhairy.htm (There are a number of sites to help you tell the difference. But you have to SEE the bird and I did not see him today.)

**** The woman called me back and thanked me for telling her about the water. She might not have discovered this for days. [Yes, I am THAT neighbor - the busy body.]

***** Another former co-worker would pick her up for Sunday church and such.

****** I was a block away and my eyes aren't as good as they could be. I only saw a silver-haired older woman of the correct size and stature. I could not see her face.

*******If we could remember her name (stop, don't say it) we could call her on the phone. If we walked at a decent hour we could just knock on the door. As it is we must wait until we think of it during the day and we can stop by - perhaps when we graduate.