In the ten plus years we've lived in Arizona, our fountain has frozen twice. Each time it froze, it looked a little like this...The water in the fountain was covered by a thin sheet of ice while the decorative ball was encased in sparkling ice crystals. The pump continued to spew out water and the frosty fountain event was over by early afternoon. That is, until the Great Freeze of 2011.
Yes indeed, while the midwest, southeast and northeast were shivering and scooping, Phoenix was encased in ice. We also got to participate in this year's weather game of "Can you break all low temperature records of all time in just one week?" Here's our attempt on February 2nd:
It's beyond my ability for description, but if I look long enough and don't blink I can see a bald headed old man whose face is entirely surrounded by Chihuly-like designs of ice. His eyes droop and his stare is either incredibly wistful or completely forbidding. Wait, now all of a sudden on the right I can see two tiny lower legs sticking out of the ice, and on the left... Oh, never mind.
However, our little birds who winter here still enjoyed the cold, cold water. Their feathers were a bit fluffed for warmth, but they're right on schedule for their morning drink and bath. Then, the next day brought this:
Whoa! This strikes me as a not terribly attractive pile of gray ice. It was definitely colder on February 3rd than on February 2nd, but the fountain continued to pump out little drops of water.
Our little friend is back, but his mate or wife or girlfriend or significant other, obviously sensing the seriousness of this situation, has flown the coop and is on her way to the southern reaches of Mexico. She is no fool.
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