Nevermore

Once upon a morning cheery, while I washed up, alone and nearly
Finished with my daily beauty and hygienic chores,
While I painted, my lashes black'ning, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
"'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door--
Only this, and nothing more."

Oh, but wait - - it's 7:00 o'clock in the morning.  And the sound is not emanating from my chamber door, it's from the side of the house, no, it's from the roof.

Then the dog started to bark.  She had heard the tapping sound, too.

I looked out a couple of windows and saw nothing.

So then I went outside and saw a very large crow sitting on the gutter at the highest corner  of the house.

I had noticed when I walked the dog earlier, that there was a thin layer of ice across all the puddles from the rains earlier in the week.  The temperature was well below freezing.

There must have been a little bit of water standing in the gutters (couldn't have been much since we just cleaned out all the gutters a little over a week ago) which had frozen.  The crow was trying to get to the liquid by tapping the sheet of ice.

I did not welcome the crow into my abode.  I shouted at it and it flew off.