Free Radicals: Reflections from the Fire

The world is white and starkly beautiful. The trees are thickly rimed in ice, bending awkwardly under its weight to the snapping point. The lawns, bushes, rooftops—everything is covered as far as we can see. The roads are empty. No lights shine in the windows up and down the street. Last night, I awoke again and again to the bangs of electrical transformers going out all over the area. We are trapped in a massive ice storm that has paralyzed Montgomery County, Maryland and left nearly half a million people without power.