The ice storm has come and gone leaving in its wake a trail of destruction, particularly to the tree canopy, that covers a large swath of Southern Ontario.

There have been power outages in many areas. We were 36 hours without power in our small town 45 minutes north of Toronto. For a while there I thought for sure we’d be spending Christmas cold and in the dark. Thankfully, at 8:15 last evening, the lights flickered on. The temperature on the ground floor of our home at the time was 63F, kept to this more or less reasonable level by the gas fireplace in our family room.

Still, this is nothing compared to what some people are experiencing in the big city. Many areas will be without power until the weekend, and whole neighbourhoods of old trees have been lost.

Power loss is localized because of fallen tree branches taking out hydro wires. This is why it will take so long for some people to get back their power. The hydro workers are struggling to re-establish power lines, neighbourhood to neighbourhood.

My mother lives in one of the hardest hit areas at the north end of Toronto. She is determined to wait it out in her home even though she has no heat except for a small gas fireplace in her basement. This is where she has hunkered down. I have told her she is to come here if it gets too uncomfortable.

In the meantime, Mother Nature has punctuated her little hissy fit with Old Man Winter by sending in a blast of Arctic air. This has submerged the area in temps of -14C which means, of course, that the ice that weighs down our beautiful trees and other foliage is not going to melt any time soon. This puts even more stress on their already overly burdened branches. All we can do now is pray we don’t get any heavy winds, as that will bring another swath of problems, including more downed power lines.

Needless to say this little weather event has bitten into the holiday plans of an enormous number of people. We have postponed Christmas dinner until next Sunday when, with any luck, the worst of the stress of this experience will have passed and we and our dinner guests can properly enjoy a festive feast.

For many this won’t be possible. This storm has proven a cruel blow to those who were having family and friends come celebrate for the holidays.

We are counting our blessings in our home. Grateful that we have our power back and that so far our trees and shrubs have survived the icy onslaught. We’re also hopeful that they can hang in until the temperatures warm up and a melt can begin.

We are also grateful to the many hydro workers out there, local and from out of province, braving the frigid temperatures to repair the power system. I know it’s their job, but this wasn’t in their holiday plans either. 😉

Herewith a few images from around our garden.

Sunburst Locust

Hardwired …

How icicles form …

Burning Bush

Frigid butterfly …

Boxwood

Long tall grass …

Our poor Pyramidal Oak. …

Merry Christmas!

Be well and take care of each other.

Merry Christmas!

Thanks for visiting …

Dorothy 🙂

~*~

©Dorothy Chiotti, Aimwell CreativeWorks 2013