It’s an appropriately wintry April 1st to write a blog about last winter’s remarkably damaging weather. This past month we have seen a significant rise in the number of projects related to ice dams.
We were lucky enough to avoid such calamities at our home, but Mother Nature took her pound of flesh in other ways, and ably assisted by the town plows, as evidenced in the below photos.
Heavy snow from one storm on Martin Luther King Day exposed a structural weakness in our Chokecherry, resulting in a massive house shaking thud one morning. Fortunately the limb fell away from the house and across a street and two sidewalks on a quiet public holiday.
As the weather warmed and the icicle festooned eaves began to drop spears onto the ground below, we would find ice -encased downspout elbows in the debris. I’ve always wondered why gutters and downspouts were invented – they seem to be a liability most of the time, easily overwhelmed by any precipitation heavier than a drizzle, easily clogged by falling leaves, Chokecherry berries, even tennis balls.
But enough complaining. Spring is here, at least on the calendar, and we are enjoying the opportunity to get outside and clean up. Once the weather is warm enough, we’ll be back on ladders, touching up and painting damaged homes around Greater Boston, enjoying the warmth of the sun, the greening of the trees, the blossoms and bulbs, the feel of warm, moist air.
