DUNCANVILLE, TEXAS — The storm has passed now, but a layer of ice remains behind. Temperatures barely reached 30 today, and the winds are bitter. Needless to say, plans for an MLK Day birding expedition were canceled, and I stayed put at home.

I did not lose electricity, though apparently there were a few outages around the Metroplex. Despite periods of freezing rain from Saturday afternoon through sometime early this morning, the ice buildup here is really not severe.

Back in Missouri, though, it’s a different story. The heaviest ice buildup in decades has left half of Springfield without power and wreaked catastrophic damage on trees and property. My parents report that some of the trees on their property have been totally destroyed. Follow this link for a few of today’s pictures of ice in the Springfield area.

And here are some pictures from my place:

All was still today. The birds were silent and inactive; I saw only a handful of blackbirds in the sky.

Each twig is encased in ice, but the coating is light enough to be beautiful, not devastating.

Berries, stems, leaves … if the rain could reach it, it’s coated in ice today. Even the glass dome around my porch light is glazed.

The trees are making a strange, soft crackling noise as the wind pushes against icy branches.

Glints of sunlight made the world into a fairy land, as if the trees were all of glass.

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