Walking on ice cubes?

What a week for careful walking! The blizzards of Christmas and early January left a lot of snow on sidewalks and side streets. Several lots never cleared their sidewalks; it is almost impossible to do so now. So walking to work already meant being more attentive than usual.

Then came several days of freezing fog followed by freezing drizzle. For two days everything was covered with close to a half inch of ice. Thank goodness for Yaktrax! However, my Yaktrax were showing wear, so after John did a bit of repair work, I ordered a new pair. (Is that order enough to ward off the winter gods and mean no more snow and ice?) Every step was now deliberate.

Then yesterday afternoon the temperature rose and the ice began dropping off the branches. The sidewalks were covered with ice cubes! Really. They were even the same size. Amazingly, those ice cubes made the walking much easier. The crunching sound was fun, too.

So now what? It rained last night and the temperature has stayed at 35 Fahrenheit so there are puddles - and still icy spots. More snow is predicted. Sigh. I am really looking forward to clear pavement so I can stride out not worrying about every step.