This is a picture that I took first thing in the morning yesterday. No snow but we got ICE. Today we are at the tailend of an ice storm. Yesterday we were truly in the middle of it. It was Martin Luther King Jr. Day so we laxed on the homeschool. We were going to walk down to the library and participate in the MLKJD festivities that they have there every year. Artie has got a job at Saratoga Coffee Traders and we decided that we would walk her to work then we would go on to the library. We walked because our van is at the garage where the mechanic is trying to figure why we don't have any heat. (it's because something is wrong with the radiator but they can't find any leaks in the radiator which means they now have to search in the engine. it is starting to sound expensive!) 
This is the next picture that I took. Notice that we haven't put away our hose yet. Personally, I keep forgetting because the weather here has been so absurdly mild. I think that I'm going to leave it there so that I can be reminded that Spring is on it's way. And when it gets here I'll have to buy a new hose.
So, we putzed around in the morning. Xan and I did some reading. We folded laundry. We talked about all the ice outside. I made us all sausage, scrambled eggs, and toast for breakfast. Then it was time to bundle up and trek downtown. There was one tense moment when no one could figure out where Artie's snow boots are. The case has not been solved but we had a pair of rubber boots that fit her handy. (I swear that I unpacked them...but maybe I am having a memory of years gone by.) Then the power went out. No worries. We have a gas stove and a propane heater that we use in our booth sometimes. We are good if the power stays out.We are off. It is very icey out there!! Artie and I choose to walk in the road where there is not a thin layer of black ice waiting to catch your ass. Michael has on his "Yaktrax". He is immune to ice now. He got them last year to use walking to the kiln and back outside. They are these metal gidgie things that you attach to the bottom of your shoes.
So, we are off. It is beautiful outside. Everything is covered in a thick layer of ice. It's an ice world out there. We walk Artie to work and then head down to the library. The picture above is off the trees outside the library. The library is closed. No festivities. It's the first time I have ever seen the parking lot empty.
So we do what anyone else would do...we play with the ice. We are having a blast getting as big a piece as we can and then smashing it on the ground. Very theraputic, very fun. We did that for a while then we walked back to Saratoga Coffee for some hot drinks and a rousing game of Scrabble.When we got home the power was still out. I shoveled ice off of our sidewalk outside. Michael and Xan set up a candle wonderland inside.
I did the dishes and made dinner by headlamp. After dinner a friend of ours who had power picked us up and we went over to the land of electic and played a game. When we got home at 10 the power was back on.
The magic hour was over and the TV got turned on.
It was fun while it lasted.
