icy day

My car was encapsulated in ice so hard that the de-icer thing didn't work.  I had to wait for the car to warm up enough to melt it!  Not a good sign.  Fortunately, John was able to take off work to drive me into Pittsburgh for my doctor's appointment.  His car is heavier and was much more reliable in the freezing rain.

The views of Pittsburgh from the parking garage were gloomy ...

 The roof rack on John's car was nothing but icicles.

 This was from one of the rooms at Mercy Hospital.  All of the rooms in the hospital have a simple little cross over the doors.  This is interesting because Mercy, formerly a Catholic owned hospital, is now owned by UPMC (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center), a huge conglomerate of hospitals and clinics blanketing this area.  I asked someone about the crosses at Mercy and they said that they must've written it into the contract during the buyout.  Crosses have to stay (or something like that).  It's interesting, because I seldom see anything like this anymore, other than in specifically religious settings.

Anyway, back to the ice ... as we were driving home we were both awed by the white, icy trees.  There is no snow, yet everything - trees, branches, fences - is encapsulated in a layer of ice.

 This is coming into Westinghouse's parking lot ...