Icicles - Frozen Wonder

There's a section of "A Christmas Story" where Ralphie takes his brand new BB gun into the back yard to try it out. He had asked for and wished for the BB gun for his holiday gift, and each person he asked had replied "You'll shoot your eye out...". But when it came time to actually shoot his brand new, beloved gift for the first time in the backyard, he doesn't take the recoil of the weapon into consideration and it knocks him flat. What does he do? He blames his bruised eye and broken eyeglasses on being hit by an icicle falling from the house. 

Ralphie just before the rifle recoils, breaking his glasses, in
"A Christmas Story". 

Yesterday's weather of heavy, blowing snow coupled with warmer temperatures led to lots of icicles dripping and forming throughout the city. DH cleaned snow off the roof at home in the morning, but by mid-afternoon, we had icicles across our front awning. I actually had to contact my landlord about ice buildup that was dripping onto my back walkway and getting enough height that I wouldn't be able to open my back door to leave when I closed that night. He had heater cables installed above the door to keep that from happening, but they were being overwhelmed. Large and long icicles were forming and as I knocked them down in mid-day, "You'll shoot your eye out," was ringing in my head. 

A beautiful view of icicles along a roofline. Of course it damages the
roof and the gutters, but it's so pretty. 

Icicles can be stunning and beautiful. Ice being water, after all, can reflect and refract light into amazing colors and depths. Ice on roadways, walkways, and along the tops of buildings, however, can be dangerous. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could just wave a magic wand and have these temporary beauties appear where we want them? For a day or two of enjoyment before we leave them behind and continue walking toward Spring? 

Here's a house that should have cleared their snow. The icicles indicate
issues and they're probably getting all kinds of water leakage inside
the house and between their walls and insulation. It's a serious problem
when it gets away from you. 

Just got a text message that the plows are operating, even though we're supposed to be snow free for the day. Guess I'd better wrap this up and check my driveway. I may need to shovel before heading out to the gym. Have a wonderful Wednesday and enjoy the photos of icicles, I'll be back tomorrow.