Wintry mix

No, it's not that spicy melange of cereals, nuts and pretzel stix that is a staple of parties this time of year. It's a not-so-happy blend of snow, sleet and freezing rain that deposits a layer of ice on roads, trees and power lines.

We were treated to one last night. Fortunately it was not heavy, and we did not suffer any significant tree damage or interrupted electricity. There is about a tenth of an inch of ice on things. With luck, most of it will melt away soon. Temps should hover around freezing this morning, but then drop through the afternoon to a minus three tonight. So the odds are the ice will hang around.

The tricky thing is that the ice is so thin that you can think there is none there until your feet slip out from under you.

To paraphrase Martha Stewart, "It's not a good thing."