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The Ice Storm of 2009
This storm has done serious damage to our fragile northern forest. We have such a challenging climate, even without the extremes of an event like this. We have watched the storm linger - twenty-foot tall trees bowing to the ground under the weight of the ice, trunks and branches snapping off with a shatter of ice shards and wood splinters, and newly pruned apple trees crumbling into piles of kindling. Most of the area is without electricity, but our batteries are keeping us powered, despite the frozen solid wind generator. Our lifestyle is unchanged, except for the moments of sadness as we gaze out into the devastating frozen beauty. Here are some images from the past few days...

Snowshoes with claws are the only way to manage the trail up to our house. It will take weeks just to clear the road after the 19" of snow under this ice layer melts! There has been little sun and we hope the wind generator will let go of its ice burden soon to start recharging the batteries. Structures have held up fine, but the forest has gotten a vicious hair cut. Many, many of the evergreen tree tops have been shorn off - decades of growth cut short. Beauty trying to hide the destruction! One week later, the SUN comes out!