Late yesterday, I kept hearing what sounded like the pop-pop-pop of a handgun.
It was disturbing, but in our neighborhood, it might have been someone practicing target shooting in their backyard. Or it may have been firecrackers.
Our neighborhood is quirky like that. (We don’t quite match the demographic.)
This morning, I learned what it really was: Exploding branches and trees. Apparently, the record-breaking cold temperatures were low enough to freeze the sap inside the trees. Then, just like frozen water expands in ice cube trays, the sap forces the tree branches and trunks to crack.
Loudly.
Here’s more information about this odd phenomenon: Exploding tree, on Wikipedia.