Deep Freeze 2021

Brrr, y'all - it is crazy cold in Texas right now. Yes indeed, even here in the land of cactus, they're sporting icicles.

The husband and I made a quick trip north to the lake house yesterday afternoon to try and do a bit of prepping in advance of our arctic plunge this weekend. You know, the usual... wrapping outdoor hose bibs in insulation, turning off the water to the house, activating the HVAC and pool system emergency freezing overrides, etc. We had been dry here at our main house as the temps plummeted, but they had already received some drizzly precip up towards the lake that froze in the upper 20s air temps and was stuck to lots of surfaces. Some of it was rather stark and pretty. The ice on our red tile roof struck me as beautifully geometric. Slipping and sliding a bit on the roads when driving home was a bit nerve wracking this morning. Then spying the poor truck that appeared to have skidded off the road, hit an embankment and flipped was a scary reminder that even a little ice can be a dangerous thing.

 

 

 

 

As you can see in several pics, much of our landscaping resembles plantsicles since parts of them are completely encased in ice. The electricity toggled off once for about five seconds this morning, right before we were about to depart for home. I'm praying the precip they've forecast for Sunday evening into Monday morning will fall as snow instead of ice. The flora and power lines around here aren't maintained with an eye towards dealing with ice, and the last thing anybody needs in such dangerously cold temperatures is for the electricity to get cut and remain off for any length of time.

 

 

 

 

I hope most of our landscaping survives this severe cold snap. As you can see in the lake's weather forecast below, it will be frigidly cold for several days. I had to delve into the almost never touched outerwear closet to dig out the coat I bought five years ago to wear on our trip to Iceland - seen in the pic below. Hoping to save our largest sago palm, the husband and I removed as much of the ice buildup as we could, and then covered it in burlap drop cloths with the hope that it will make it. We pulled another potted sago into the garage, but had to just leave the three smaller ones adjacent to the street to the whims of mother nature. I guess it's a good thing I was already planning to rework a bit of the landscaping in the front yard at the lake house this spring.