Frozen water expands, which can crack pipes. Once the drain is flowing:
He thought about the pipe. He thought about how water, the giver of life, could turn so stubborn and destructive when it got cold enough. He thought about his son, David, in Chicago. They hadn't spoken in three years. The silence between them was a lot like this pipe—frozen, blocked, holding back a flood of things that needed to be said. how to unfreeze a drain pipe
"Come on," he whispered, his breath puffing in white clouds. "Just let go." Frozen water expands, which can crack pipes
He closed his eyes for a moment, listening to the hum of the machine. He remembered Martha using this dryer, the way the warm air felt when she walked past him, the smell of her shampoo. "You're too stubborn, Elias," she used to say. "You freeze up just like an old pipe." He thought about his son, David, in Chicago