Shadows and Ice

Hi, everyone!

Grandma has been hoping that the ice at the bay would freeze solidly enough for James and Thomas to go walking on it.  That usually happens by mid-January, but we’ve had  warm spells and rain. When Grandma and Grandpa took me out to the bay the last weekend in January, the ice didn’t look very solid in front of our place.  We could see a few ice fisherman near Grass Point, but there were channels and cracks near us!  We had a pretty sunrise, though!

Yesterday was Groundhog Day, so of course I looked for my shadow!  The first time I looked, it was cloudy.  Then the sun peeked out a little bit and Grandma said I should look again.  What do you think?  Did I see my shadow or not?

After church yesterday, Grandma and Grandpa took me back out to the bay to check on the ice again.  The day was even warmer than last week and snow was melting!  I saw a swan standing on the ice in front of our place, but there was a little pond right next to the swan.  Yesterday was Superbowl Sunday as well as Groundhog Day, so Grandpa and I watched the game after dinner.

This morning when we got up, we could see a big stretch of open water just south of us.  There were geese and swans swimming around in it!  After breakfast, Grandma took me down to the deck for a closer look.  The ice level was higher than I’ve ever seen it before!  Usually, the ice barely touches our cribbing.  This year, it’s halfway up and rising!  That’s why one of our neighbors to the south is running a bubbler around his dock to keep the ice from forming.  Between that and the warm weather, we won’t have solid ice this year.

Grandpa was waiting to drain the water out of the pipes until we knew whether James and Thomas would be able to walk on the ice.  We did the draining this morning.  First, I made sure I remembered the directions for doing it.  Grandma asked Grandpa to write them down as her Christmas present a few years ago.  The first job was to turn off the water supply from the county at the curb valves outside.  Grandpa has a special tool to do that.  One end fits into the valve, and the handle end is shaped to unscrew the cap on the access pipe!

Next, we turned off the water to the upstairs and opened all the faucets there.  I helped Grandpa put antifreeze in all the drains, just in case there’s water that doesn’t drain out completely.  While I was upstairs, I said goodbye to my rubber duck friends until spring comes!

Draining the water downstairs was the last step.  I helped turn on all the taps.  This year, we remembered to run the dishwasher through a drain cycle, too!  I helped by opening the dishwasher door to stop the rest of the cycle after the draining was done.  Then Grandpa turned off all the electric circuits for water-related appliances.

When we came back to Fairport, we had a sunny period.  No question about whether or not I saw my shadow today!

Love,

Lion-san