It’s all about ice this weekend. Menacing icicles are hanging off our roof and those of other building around town, but friendlier cold creations are at street level, as 21 ice sculptures line the downtown as part of the annual “Salem’s So Sweet” festival sponsored by Salem Main Streets. I’m impressed with the effort; I walked around to take the photographs below and saw a lot of people on the streets and in the shops. It wasn’t quite Halloween, but it was an impressive turnout in the doldrums of dreary February.
And now for a more threatening image of ice: tentacles on the side of City Hall, provoking the closure of the alley below.
Finally, some really scary images of ice. While searching through the National Weather Service Historic Photographs Archive for pictures of the great Blizzard of 1978 (which happened this weekend), I came across these views of ice storms in Portsmouth, New Hampshire in 1886 and outside Providence, Rhode Island in 1921. My trees have really taken a hit this year, but these pictures put it all in perspective, as history often does.
February 8th, 2011 at 9:00 am
Ahhhh, the ice storm photo reminded me of one that we had in Michigan as a kid. No power, neighbors coming over to cook on our gas stove, listening to ‘scary stories’ on the radio, hearing the tree limbs snapping, people lined up on the living room floor in sleeping bags because my parents had a fireplace. FUN times as a kid… Not so fun to think back as an adult! Enjoying your blog…