Ice, Ice, Baby

This story begins with a loud crack and ends with an even louder CRACK, CRACK! It has got to be the easiest column I’ve ever written because all I had to do was look out the window this morning at the aftermath from the great ice storm of 2026, and then just write down what I saw. But first, for the real start of this story, let’s strap on our ice skates and slide right on back to that old familiar street not so far away called Flamingo and the house my three brothers, The Sister and I grew up in a long, long time ago.

Snow.

For five of those seven years spent growing up on Flamingo, we got snow during the winter. For one of those years, we got to experience a real ice storm, a storm very similar to the one that just occurred. Both of those events from my youth taught me two things. First, a snowstorm equals a whole lot of fun: us kids out of school, building snow forts, engaging in snowball battles, and holding the “Biggest Snowman” competition. When it snows, kids all over this county do the very same things today. But it didn’t snow. It iced. 

Ice.

The second thing I learned: Ice storms equal a whole lot of “not fun.” Our very first ice storm on Flamingo started with such a loud crack at night, I stumbled over to the window to see what had happened. A huge tree in our front yard had snapped in half and landed right on top of Dad’s van, crushing it. Dad waited until daylight to investigate, but by then we had lost another four trees. I learned some additional lessons over the next couple of days that I’ve never forgotten.

First, pine trees and ice do not play well together. The result is always the same: a lot of downed limbs, fallen trees, and property damage cleanup. Second, the cleanup wasn’t just Dad and his chainsaw. We kids had to drag what he’d cut to the curb for later pickup. Third, unlike with a snowstorm, during an ice storm even Down the Street Bully Brad stops being a bully. After that first ice-covered tree came crashing down, we didn’t see him for almost a week. Guess his dad made him help clean up their yard also, or he just couldn’t slip and slide his way up Flamingo to bully anyone.

This week’s ice storm also equaled a whole lot of “not fun” for everyone. But being an adult, it added something else: a whole lot of preparation beforehand and a whole lot more cleaning up afterwards. News coverage of this storm started about a week ago, and that’s when Yours Truly and The Wife started to prepare. We did the normal stuff folks do: pulled out our winter gear, made sure we each had warm hats and gloves, filled the cars’ gas tanks, stocked the refrigerator, got extra rechargeable flashlights, and bought a huge battery that could charge our phones and the flashlights for almost a week. Over the five days of preparation, I think we made as many trips to the grocery store for that one item we’d both thought the other had bought. But there was one thing I did that came in handier than any other: I made sure the chain saw had an extra can of gas and a freshly sharpened chain.

The crack heard through the house.

Just like back on Flamingo from so long ago, a loud crack woke me in the middle of the night. It also woke The Wife. 

She asked, “What was that?”

“Don’t know. I’ll check.” 

Over to the window, I peered out into the darkness but couldn’t see anything. Then came another, even louder crack! When morning finally came, we could see the damage in the side yard. Luckily for us, the two trees were away from the house and cars, so nothing had been crushed. Making it to the top of the drive, I looked up and down the street and saw three things that were identical to the ice storm back on Flamingo. First, dads were cutting limbs off fallen trees. Second, their kids were helping the best that they could dragging the limbs to the curb. And third, there was absolutely no sign of Down the Street Bully Brad. 

Our thoughts and prayers go out to those who have lost more than just a few trees during this epic ice storm.