Amazing Ice

This morning it was 7F in Denton, TX. I live in a little town just outside of Denton. Denton is north of Dallas and Ft Worth, on I35. The extraordinary thing about 7 degrees, is that we don't get this cold very often. As a matter of fact, the weatherman on TV this morning said, "I don't remember when I have ever said a single digit degree for north Texas!" He did go and look it up and the last time was in 1976, I think he said. If you are from the north, you may be thinking, "Ha, that is normal or even warm for us." :) I really do know what winter is, in the north, honest. :) I grew up in NY, I have lived in Minnesota, Massachusetts, Virginia and Maryland, before we moved to Texas in 1991. So, I am truly amazed when we have an average temperature of 53F for this time of year, that we are now on our third day of below freezing temperatures!

Our home sits up a small hill from a small lake. I was totally shocked this morning when I went to the kitchen, that has windows to view the lake, that the lake had ICE on it. I never thought I would ever see ice on that lake. My first clue this morning, should've been when the UPS Store guy came in from his morning chore of working on the pool and he said, "There is ice forming on the top of the pool." But, I was in such shock from that piece of information and thought, "Oh, it is because it is a small body of water," that I never even gave the lake another thought.

So, when I saw the ice layer on the lake, I donned the old down parka, that was saved from our days in MN and technically belongs to the UPS Store guy, my wool hat and gloves, grabbed a basket for my camera and supplies and headed off down the hill to the lake. I don't normally go down there by myself, because there are snakes down there. However, the snakes are in the ground because they don't like cold weather.

The little white pieces of ice on this branch are actually sitting up out of the lake, as if the water froze as a wave hit the branch. It is a very pretty effect, but unless I lay down on the ground you have to look at it from the top. :) I am not laying on the ground, sorry. Even though the snakes are supposed to be in hibernation, I am not that brave. LOL!

The layer of ice is pretty thick. It isn't a flimsy coating. I had the hoe with me, just in case, and tried hitting the ice to see how thick it was. I ended up with a little chunk of ice flying up and out, but didn't break through. Hmmmm. How frozen is this lake, anyway? So, I gently eased my right foot on it and placed some weight on it, and there was a cracking sound, so I quickly moved back. No ice skating.... Where are those skates anyway?? We still have them in a box somewhere.

Even though the lake wouldn't hold me, I knew it would hold Lil' D and JoJo. So, I went back up the hill and retreived the dolls, their bench and their pet sheep, and hurried back down. Here they are sitting on the ice!

Now where are those ice skates, anyway????