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15_the_circle) wrote2008-01-20 11:56 pm
iced over
[OT from cottage renovations]
it may not be unusual to have a couple of days of cold snap in January, but that does nothing to make it in the least welcome.
not counting on having gotten completely over the raging crud I kept indoors despite the day's clear skies and abundant light.
finally the temptation got to be too much for me and I set out, waiting for the warmest least cold part of the day and taking the precaution of placing the heavy parka in front of the heat register for a good five minutes before donning it and resolving to limit the excursion to no more than a few minutes at best.
as one might expect, one of these measure was more effective than the other but I did at least turn back at the point when the cold started to cut through my gloves.
(click through these thumbnails for higher resolution images)
West Woods
upslope from the Whetstone Spring a channel runs diagonally through the woods, cut into the soil by uncontrolled runoff from a neighbouring development's parking lots. Friday's rain had sluiced some water through but surface had frozen over before it could all flow through.
the bands of light across these submerged leaves provide the clue that they are viewed through ice as well as water; it might be necessary to click through to the larger images to make out the surface texture.
leaves under water under ice
viewed from this angle the iced over surface is more evident.
iced over
I'm not sure why it is that the surface cracking of these ice sheets resembles so closely the meandering of river bends as seen from the air. it must have to do with the distribution of stresses within its structure.
ice meanders
my appreciation for the result is undiminished by ignorance of the processes at work.
with the leaves down from canopy and understory alike and covered with snow, the fallen larger trees (of which there seemed to be more than I noted before) display a texture not readily apparent other times of the year.
fallen tree texture
Completely better ...