Covered in Ice

We are covered in ice here. School let out early and most business closed early. I am sitting here in my bedroom and can hear an odd rhymetic pounding as the rain is coming down and hitting the frozen gutters and dropping down to the ground.

Trying to come home from work was difficult. The ice was SO thick on my windshield it would not even crack with the ice scrapper. I had to warm up the car for a long time before I was able to crack it and then it came off in big chunks. I rolled down my window and a sheet of ice stood in its place. I had to hit it fairly hard to get it to break and was afraid I would cut myself with the sharp blades of ice. It fell all inside my vehicle and I was timid in trying to get it out without cutting myself.

I decided to brave the cold and take my tripod outside to play with the TV modes on my camera for shutter speeds. I had trouble staying undercover enough to keep the lens from getting drops of rain on it.

These photos are from outside my back door and looking into the neighbor's yard. The icicles are on our outdoor canapy (we put the cover inside during the winter).

UPDATE: I just had a HUGE branch fall from our tree and hit my bedroom window. The poor tree looks horrible with a big empty spot now. That was scary.