The nature of nature

FOR PEOPLE lucky enough to live east and south of the freeze line, the hardships caused by the ice storm late Thursday and early Friday seem comfortably abstract - like news reports of natural disasters in a distant country. And yet Leominster, essentially paralyzed by downed trees and power outages, is less than 50 miles from the State House. The eerie beauty of crystal cities encased in ice belies an awesome peril, and even yesterday's freakish thaw brought on new problems, as rebounding branches snapped vital utility cables.

The thin invisible line separating mere inconvenience from catastrophe has been electricity. Without it, heating systems shut down, pipes froze, food spoiled, computers crashed, and reliable information dissolved. Within instants, the whole high-tech edifice of modern life snapped shut, leaving people in primitive conditions.

At least two deaths have been attributed to the storm, including a New Hampshire man who suffered carbon monoxide poisoning trying to heat a trailer without proper exhaust, and a public works employee from Marlborough who may have been swept away in a flood.

In Worcester County, cleanup of acres of downed trees has been complicated by an infestation of Asian longhorned beetles, since residents have been told not to remove the wood from quarantined areas. The branches are piled high along the roadsides like giant bird's nests.

Residents have grumbled about their local utilities, and three days is too long to function without power. But no one doubts that linemen worked heroically through the frozen weekend in brutal conditions. In the end, gratitude is the most healing response when nature challenges man.