Power lines are underground on our street. And in most subdivisions of about ten years old. But the Utility company discourages that in new developments because the cables/connections/transformers keep getting wet. And it's also extremely hard to find where a power line is broken when its underground. Of course, it is also more expensive. There are billions of pine trees within a hundred miles and they make great poles! Our soil makes good lake bottoms; mostly non-porous clay! Also makes good bricks, a very common exterior siding on buildings/houses. Even in our 'subdivision' (we're only one long street with a huge golf course on the south and 140 acres of pasture on the north), they put the transformers above ground.
Of course, the generator us for my wife's folks who live on their farm, miles and miles from the nearest electrical substation. The only thing buried around there are the 200' deep wells used for irrigation!
The fish just dive down to the 45-50°F water. The pond has already had ice on it just last week. But it's rarely more than a quarter inch thick; no ice skating allowed!
I don't bother making a hole in it unless it stays frozen for several days. Cold water has a much higher oxygen level than warm. That's the main reason we have a pump and water fall the rest of the year, the splashing helps introduce more oxygen into the warm water. The fish don't really hibernate, but their metabolism really slows down and they are a 'hardy' breed, not tropicals, at all. Basically they are just
colorful carp!
I assume the cold air is from the same mass that is hitting Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas right now, special delivery from our Northern Neighbors in Saskatchewan? Maybe a little from Alberta, also. Extremely cold, high pressure 'bubbles' build up in that area and there's not much to keep it from speeding down the eastern slopes of the Rockies or the Plains. It usually not very thick which means it slides under the much warmer and wet air coming up from the Gulf of Mexico. The rain falls through the very cold air and, if we're lucky, it is just sleet/ice pellets. If the cold layer is a little thinner, the rain doesn't quite freeze before hitting the trees/power lines/etc. but it then realizes how cold it is and proceeds to change to a solid!!
And thus concludes our class in Ichthyology, Geography, Meteorology, Urban Development, Farming and Physics. There will be a 100 question essay test tomorrow. Please go over your notes tonight! The test will be 95% of your grade for the semester, BTW.
