Maximum icicles

There are some subtle signs of melting, but the biggest, most obvious indication that there's actually some warmth in the air is the current accumulation of very large icicles that are dangling ominously from the eaves. Some of these frozen daggers are three feet long, and every time I go outside, whether to walk and photograph the natural world, or simply to gather wood or dump compost, I look up for falling ice. I'm toying with the idea of wearing my chainsaw hard-hat on every foray, but that would have to be overkill... unless, of course, it prevented me from getting killed in the most over-the-top way imaginable. There was an easier way. With the temperatures this afternoon briefly above freezing, I opened windows and plucked off icicles. I threw them in the snowbanks to avoid any possibility of puncturing the roof. No use running the risk of impalement, shingles or flesh.