Ice and the Open Road

I took this photo from the studio window last week when everything was covered in an inch of ice (and then four more inches of snow). I measured this icicle with a tape measure which clocked it in at about five feet long. Once again I am in awe of Ohio weather, which never ceases to amaze. Granted, I'm sure there's some icy fjord where people toss around giant icicles all the time. But the fact that we got some nice ones growing here was interesting.

I went on a road trip to see the family over the weekend. Had a good time, despite the long drive. Unfortunately, I had forgotten to pack music for the car's CD player, so I was stuck between the limbo of empty car noise and the three CD's that were in the car at the time of my departure. The Black Heart Procession - Amore Del Tropico, KMFDM - Tohuvabohu, and the Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour compilation/soundtrack thingy. Needless to say, the music selection was schizophrenic at best, and I ended up listening to each of these albums at least three times apiece throughout the drive.

It was t-shirt weather at my dad's. Coming from a winter wonderland, I was agog at the balmy (64 degrees by the time I left) conditions. Regardless, spring will come soon. Just. A. Few. More. Weeks. I had a good time with my dad. We went to a steakhouse to celebrate his birthday, and the waitresses sang to him. He also got a massive birthday brownie and ice cream dish on the house that was so large neither of us could finish it.

I stirred from my mom's couch on saturday to find her and grandma sitting at the kitchen table. The three of us sat together, drinking coffee and having conversations. It was a pretty cool multi-generational experience that I don't get a lot of these days.

I'm back in Columbus now to find that most of my icicles have melted and fallen away. Good that no one walking by the house wasn't impaled by falling ice spikes of death while I was gone.