Scenes from After the Big Ice Storm

Following a rainy and icy day, Thursday was a day filled with sunshine and blue  skies. The sky was pretty, though some of the residents of Riverhead face some not-so-pretty sights along with the beauty of the winter wonderland. Nonetheless, as always, from one edge of town to another, Riverhead is filled with the contrast of scenery.

In the heart of town, sidewalks are invisible and garbage cans balance delicately on the mounds of snow surrounding folks' driveways and mailboxes. After getting pummeled with bad weather upon bad weather, then warmer weather and rain, the piles are ice chunks and solid, leaving little place to put out trash and recyclables. Street signs now post ironic statements, such as "no parking in street." As if one could actually park in the street. 

Main roadways and most side streets are clear and dry but some side roads are crusted over with solid ice and compacted snow. Most of them are passable, since the sun is keeping things somewhat less frozen, but caution is warned because many spots are pure, slick ice patches. 

On the North edges of town, in particular the Sound Ave area, the farm fields look like a frozen tundra. The thin layer of ice over the sparse fields catches the sun just right so that everything sparkles and glistens as far as the eye can see. On the sides on the roads, however, it looks like massive road construction has been done. Big plow and bulldozer tracks are visible and what appears at time to looks like mounds of dirt is actually snow covered over and mixed with all the material the town needed to put on the roads to keep them clear. Noticeable snowmobile tracks were everywhere - sled owners are getting their use this year! Horses, buffalo and various animals were all out grazing and huddling together to keep warm. 

As much as the contrast of winter wonder farm land and town snow mounds are,  across town, some things remained constant. Everywhere are cars buried under snow that will most likely be there for quite some time; snow mounds as high as the stop signs (higher in points where the signs are dug out), parking lots with snow mounds higher than the tallest truck and town workers still out trying to clean up and make travel safer.

It is bitter cold out and icy. After being hit with several storms and severe cold temperatures, if you can get out of your driveway and drive with caution on main roads, there are some truly beautiful sights to see around town.