“Isn’t it beautiful?” I exclaimed over and over this past week as sunlight glinted off the ice-covered trees. After a weekend storm, up to half-an-inch of ice now coats everything.

Of course, it’s a terrible beauty that has wrought destruction on our forests, created deadly challenges for wildlife, and become a headache for the people who manage, maintain, and use our many roads and trails.

“A mark of true intelligence is the ability to hold competing thoughts or ideas while striving to better understand both,” wrote my philosophical friend. It felt especially appropriate as my mind swirled trying to imagine all the impacts of this storm. Clearly, it’s beautiful. Clearly, it’s destructive. What are the positive and negative impacts, both now and into the future?