We woke up this morning to a soft tinkling sound outside - ice pellets. I know I'm spoiled, because I was out west during the worst of this winter weather, but it still doesn't make me happy to be housebound. No one with any sense goes out in ice - too much chance of a broken bone. I feel sorry for people like my niece and my neighbor who are trying to build new houses. My neighbor had the concrete truck pour the foundation on Friday, because it warmed up to a whopping 46 degrees. I'm not sure how the ice and the 13 degree temperatures we're having right now are going to affect his footings (I see basement cracks in his future). The family across the street from me is having a pool installed - traditional concrete, not fiberglass. I think if it were me, I would have waited another month before starting a pool renovation, but the way things are going, our next warm day is going to shoot up into the 90's. We don't seem to get much spring and fall in the Midwest. They might as well write those 2 seasons out of the science books and just make them one-day holidays, because that's about as long as they last.
