Winter Ice Safety Tips

Winter Ice Safety Tips

A few tips help cold-clime dwellers cope with the inevitable ice.

Toby Raymond 

With heartfelt conviction, if not absolute certainty, folks often say there are two seasons in Vermont: winter and construction. While many regions in the country can make similar claims, I would pit our Green Mountain State against any of them.

As a devoted horse mom and avid gardener who spends a virtual eternity chipping ice chunks out of water buckets and sheltering tender seedlings from the elements until what seems like the Fourth of July, I have joined the unspoken fellowship of country dwellers who have endured more than their share of blizzards and frozen water pipes.

Although it appears I have earned the dubious respect that comes from being resourceful, as evidenced by a slight nod from my “true” (fourth generation and beyond) Vermonter neighbors, I must confess to a feeling of pride at achieving such recognition as I grudgingly reacquaint myself with the rigors of cold- weather living. The most challenging aspect of the ordeal by far is coping with the ice. Unless you are engaged in a sport for which ice is required, there is little to recommend it – the potential hazards far exceed the fun to be experienced.