The Kankakee River ice jam is no more. Two days ago the temperature in Illinois soared to a record breaking 60 degrees; this on the heels of weeks of sub-zero temperatures that had frozen the river solid. As  the thermometer climbed, the ice began to melt and crack, piling up in giant slabs that backed up the water and caused flooding upstream. Ice collected in a mountainous heap in front of Dad’s house and by midday the rising water began to push ice onto shore, in the process taking out everything in its path. At 8 p.m., Dad checked the water level and discovered it was over the dock and was rising fast. We held our breaths and prepared to leave if necessary, but by 10 p.m. the water was receding. Dad speculated that the locks downstream had been opened up to relieve the flooding.

Backed up ice pushes into the cove, creating a mini-glacier

By yesterday morning, all the ice on the far side of the island had been swept downstream and the river was again flowing, but the cove in front of Dad’s house still looked like a glacier, with jagged ice stretching from the shore to the island. Soon, the swift currents on the far side of the island began eating away at the ice in the cove. Before long, half the distance between Dad’s dock and the island had opened up. I pulled on boots, bundled up in two coats to keep warm in temperatures that were once again down to freezing, and grabbed my camera. At the shoreline, huge sheets of ice split and fell into the river, crashing into one another like a giant demolition derby. Further out, mini icebergs calved from larger mounds and floated away. The air was filled with crackling and popping that reminded me of Read the rest of this entry »

Unless this crazy weather pattern stops, I’m afraid my family is going to run me out of town on a rail for fear that I am a jinx. To begin with, this has been Illinois’ coldest December in many years. The Kankakee River, which runs right by my Dad’s front door, NEVER freezes before January. But the recent long string of sub-zero days caused the river to freeze over in mid-December this year.

Yesterday morning, with the temperatures still below freezing, I watched a three wheeler zipping down the ice out in the middle of the river. Later that afternoon the temperatures started to climb and kept climbing. By noon today, it was 60 degrees outside and the ice was rapidly melting. Not long afterward, from his spot in front of the picture window overlooking the river, Dad said, “Here it comes. The ice is breaking up.” I rushed over to see. Looking across the glassy surface, I spotted a narrow band of broken up ice slowly floating past the island that marks the midpoint of the river.

Grabbing the camera, I ran outside and looked upstream. The ice moved slowly at first, crackling and popping as sheets split apart. Expanses of water opened up, releasing pent up flood waters that had backed up behind the ice floe. Raging waters and 40 mph buffeting winds forced ice chunks to tumble on top of one another and build up into jagged mountains. Giant tree branches and tree trunks protruded from the floe as it raced downstream, threatening the houses across the river that are at a lower elevation.

Read the rest of this entry »

The snow has finally stopped here in Illinois and the temperatures have finally climbed above zero; it’s now 12 degrees and expected to climb all the way to 28. The sun is even peeking through the clouds – just a bit, but enough to melt a little of the ice that has been coating all the roads. Tomorrow’s forecast calls for temps to climb above freezing, perhaps even as high as 50 degrees. We fondly refer to this as pneumonia weather.

I’m not complaining though. I am surrounded by warmth – both of the temperature kind (Dad’s house is a cozy 72 degrees) and the familial kind. I am about to leave for my sister’s house, where for the next few hours we’ll be stuffing our faces, unwrapping presents, watching football, playing electronic games on the TV, and talking over one another until the din is so loud that my head begins to reverberate. I love it. I am so grateful that I can be here over the holidays with my Dad and the rest of my family. I hope each and every one of you are also with loving family and friends, enjoying the holiday. Merry Christmas everybody!

The high temperature today in Illinois was MINUS one degree. This followed a night of sub-zero temps with wind gusts up to 35 mph. All night long, high winds roared across the frozen river outside my father’s house, tearing ice off the trees in the yard. Every so often the sound of ice shards spattering against the windows was accompanied by the CRACK of an ice-laden tree limb breaking off a tree, quickly followed by a BOOM as the limb fell on the roof or hit the side of the house.

Although the photo doesn't do it justice, absolutely everything - every little tree branch as well as the road surface - is covered in a thick sheet of ice. You get just a hint of how bad it is from the branches at the far left, where the ice is sparkling from the meagre sunlight filtering through the forest.

I had planned to go to Bingo and Christmas shopping with my sisters today, but when I watched the weather report, I thought better of it and called Nancy to cancel.

“Don’t be such a wuss! It’s just a little bit of cold,” she challenged.

“I hate this weather,” I said. “I don’t need to end up sick.”

“You don’t get sick from the cold. You get sick from a bug.” I am aware of this. I used this argument many times as a child, when my parents insisted Read the rest of this entry »

There is beauty in everything and last night’s ice storm was no exception. I braved the cold temperatures, slippery roads, and tree limbs crashing down all around me to capture these photos:

Read the rest of this entry »

Snow on the Outer Banks of North Carolina? Not a regular occurrence, but it’s been known to happen.

Three inches of snow in one day in Las Vegas, where they normally don’t get more than a half inch during an entire winter? Now that’s a bit strange.

But when I heard it snowed in Malibu yesterday – well, that’s just downright weird.

Unfortunately, I don’t think that’s the worst of it. This morning, my father poked his head into the living room to give me a heads up. “Don’t worry if you hear some noise. I’m just testing the generator.”

“Yeah, OK,” I replied distractedly. I was busy writing a travel article that was overdue and didn’t really pay too much attention. Even hearing the generator roar to life didn’t make much of an impression.

Several hours later I noticed a strong chemical odor in the house that reminded me of cleaning solvent or paint thinner. When the fumes had permeated the living room Read the rest of this entry »

Brrrrrr. I repeat. Brrrrrrrrrrrrr. I’m at my Dad’s house, freezing my butt off. Overnight it dropped to 9 degrees. The cold temperatures, coupled with a stiff wind off the river, made it difficult to keep the house heated to much more than 70 degrees last night. I slept under a mountain of blankets. The high today is expected to be 21 and the low 19, but at least the wind has died down, so it’s warmer inside the house today.

Since I’m a vegetarian and Dad’s a carnivore, the only thing in his refrigerator I can eat is processed cheese food slices and white bread, thus we’re leaving momentarily to do some grocery shopping. I am less than delighted to be going out in this weather, what with my persistent sinus infection and stuffed up head, but to make it even worse snow is on the way, with an accumulation of up to three inches expected. Several days ago I drove through a snowstorm in the mountains of Kentucky and yesterday I had to deal with freezing rain during the drive between Cincinnati and Illinois. I think driving through three inches of snow would probably Read the rest of this entry »

There are times when I feel totally disconnected from everyone and everything. Then there are other times when I am so connected that I’d swear I’m communicating with a higher source. Yesterday evening was one of those “oh so connected” times. I was driving back to Sarasota after having spent two weeks working on my property in Key West. I’d checked the weather before leaving and knew that part of the trip would take me through storms, but it was the ferocity of the lightning that took me by surprise.

It started at dusk, a frequent but harmless display on the distant horizon. They sky wasn’t black or threatening and I didn’t think much about it; in fact I was quite enjoying the light show, until I drove smack dab into the center of it. Suddenly, the lightning strikes changed from vertical to horizontal. Each bolt split the sky, traveling across my windshield at a height alarmingly close to the ground. The first time it happened I jumped in my seat. The second time I yelled “Whoa.” When the third one hit, the main bolt split into three bony fingers that curved toward me, as if attempting to reach through my windshield and snatch me up in its enormous skeletal hand. My hair Read the rest of this entry »

It’s good to be home but would somebody please tell the weather gods that this is the South??? When I arrived last night it was only 28 degrees and the high today was 55. Ridiculous! Thought I left this all behind me in North Carolina and Illinois. If this situation doesn’t get better, SOON, I’m going to have to resort to other means of getting my daily quota of sunshine, such as those shown in the video below: