The winter solstice is typically a day to celebrate. After all, after December 21, the days get longer and you’re that much closer to Christmas! Hooray! This year, December 21 brought many million bucketloads of ice to Toronto. Fortunately, we still have our power, though hundreds of thousands are without (including my parents) and because we didn’t need to go anywhere, we’ve avoided the treacherous roads. That being said, I have never seen a day so beautiful than waking up the day after the Toronto ice storm of 2013. It was absolutely breathtaking. Every exposed twig, leaf or wheel spoke was entirely coated with ice. Simply gorgeous.
This is what my car looked like:
Notice the solid block of ice between the door and the car frame. Let’s just say, I didn’t get the car door open all day.
This pattern of tiny, perfectly spaced icicles was everywhere. My wife made a comment how much they looked like those icicle Christmas lights you can buy, but I had no idea they actually existed so abundantly in nature, given the right conditions.
This is a bike wheel:
After plucking a lonely ice-covered leaf from a tree, I freed the leaf from its icy chamber and this is what remained:
And at the end of the daylight, the Christmas lights were on and the ice still stood firm:
Our thoughts are with all those without shelter or power through another night and bless anyone working on the mess that the ice has caused, they have a long few days ahead!
As with anything exciting/scary going on in the city, more great photos can be found at BlogTO.
