This morning a thin coating of ice covers all the walking surfaces on Chicken Ridge. The glazing on our small front deck makes retrieving the Juneau Empire a danger filled undertaking. Pre-dawn ice this time of year brings the promise of clear weather at least until the next North Pacific storm brings back the rain.

First ice brings beauty along with danger. Only a flat footed walk—more a slide really—can get me safely from Chicken Ridge to work. Shoe skating down 7th Street brings me to the Seward Street Stairs and a first view of Gasteneau Channel. This morning it wears a shawl of vampire fog, which can’t survive sunrise. That won’t be for a half an hour so there is still time for my idle neighbors  to put Beethoven’s Sixth on the stereo and watch the day build in richness with his music.