Encased in Ice (Tennessee Snow Storm of 2010)

They were right! There, let it be said that the weather predictors and prognosticators said we were going to have snow and we did. Unfortunately the manner of snow and the amount of snow differed from what the forecast originally said (which was 2-3 inches at one point). Currently we have between 4-6 inches of snow with a nice smooth layer of ice on top just to make things interesting! The ice isn’t good for getting around town and we’ve been stuck at home (nothing new since we are boring people and don’t do much anyway) watching the snow fall. What the ice is good for though is pretty cool (sorry for the pun). Sledding was the main attraction of the day with our slope in the backyard becoming a valuable asset. Several neighbors joined us outside on the hill at various times to ride down my version of the Olympic bobsled! (or was it the luge? I always get those mixed up.)



The other really cool thing that ice is great for is photography. I caught some really nice ice pictures today particularly of the ornamental grasses. I found it amazing how the ice built up on the stems of the branches and trees and in some cases completely encasing them. It was almost like the world was made of glass.

Yoshino Cherry

Red Maple 

Sassafras

The ice also covered our structures and made interesting shapes as icicles were created on...

The Birdbath

The Arbor 

and a Birdfeeder 

By far the most interesting shapes created by the ice were on the ornamental grasses.

The  ‘Shenandoah’ Panicum virgatum could be seen as an ice sculpture from far away.

I found the Mexican Feather Grass or Nassella tenuissima very interesting!

 

But by far the coolest picture of the day has to the the Muhlenbergia capillaris or Muhly Grass. The little beads of ice resemble beads of glass.

The cold temperatures will be with us until Monday but no more accumulation is expected. That’s probably a good thing – I think we have enough!