Still Winter
A long, bitter winter has a way of pushing things to their breaking point. This winter has been one of the harshest on record in the United States, sending snow and ice storms into even the normally balmy southern states. Where we live, there has been a pattern cycling between arctic temperatures and heavy snowfall and back again throughout the past three months. Every time it warms to 20 degrees or so (-7C), we get another blanket of snow before diving back toward zero (-18C) again. We have had our occasional, isolated above-freezing days when icicles grow and meltwater collects on sidewalks only to become a dangerous sheet of ice with the following cold snap. The sun beats on snowbanks by day, pushing fingers into the less hard-packed edges. Then, cold winds turn the work into a natural masterpiece like frozen surf- beautiful, but sharp and unforgiving if you fall. Water will seep into cracks and pores when it warms, strain...