One more ice shot!

Just yesterday, a week after the ice storm, this much ice remains on the Japanese downspout despite the rising temperatures.  The trees are mostly bare but the ground beneath them still carries shards of the ice that coated them completely.  Why does water that doesn't flow anymore so fascinate? 

Last night we had another thunder and lightening storm and pouring rain, but the temperatures hovered around 32 and today the snow left on the ground, and there is still several inches of snow on the ground despite the rain, is brittle and frozen.  Tough to walk on now if we had tramped down the snow on previous walks.  The driveway is just simply a rough ice rink!  It is the last day of February, a month that was like January in its winter wallop, and hopes are high for March to bring a thaw.  Even the lovers of winter are now desperate for a respite!