Art Is Where You Find It

Back in December of 2008 a freak ice storm hit New England that took out power for millions of residents, including yours truly. When it happened we were not given warning so we thought it was just a bit of rain and ice and that power would be returned shortly. After several hours went by without power we started to get cabin fever. My wife and I started to complain about the slow response of the electric company. What was taking so long. When it started getting dark we grabbed our flashlights and candles and went to bed.

The next day I suggested we go out for lunch and replenish our supply of batteries. No sense sitting in the house bored out of our minds.

As we drove through town we started to understand the scale of the storm. It was much worse than we realized. Trees and wires were down on every street. It was then we accepted that the electric company was probably doing all it could.

When we got back home I had to act quick with my camera because, with the temperature approaching 50 degrees, the display would soon be gone. As I walked under trees I got pelted by falling chunks of ice. When the wind blew the sound of crackling ice was eerie and musical.

There is a farm behind my house where I went (don’t tell the farmer) to be clear of the trees and still be able to take pictures. Below is a picture of the tree line along the farm. You can see how the weight of ice caused them to bend and break.

It was the closeups that really impressed me. They were like Jackson Pollock paintings.