February 02, 2006

Puddle

This morning I abandoned the piles on my desk, pulled on my big green boots, and went for a hike in my woods. Usually this time of year, I need snowshoes but an unnaturally warm January melted all of December's snow. And temperatures that hover just above freezing have created thin, intricately patterned layers of ice on all the puddles and ponds that cover my land.

When the sun came out, the puddles became strangely beautiful. Patches of dark water would reflect treetops and bits of sky, while the whole pattern was crisscrossed with slashes of ice. As I stared into a puddle, I could move my head or shift position, and the whole pattern of sky and tree branch would shift like a kaleidescope.

By the time I reached the grove of hemlocks, temperatures were rising, and the thin layer of ice was melting, as was the ice in the hemlock trees. Drops of water fell from branches onto the calm surface of each puddle, creating swirls and distortions in the puddle pictures as I watched.

I spent a wonderful hour tramping about in the woods, crashing through thin layers of ice, loving the sound of that brittle breaking, splashing through puddles of icy cold water, and mostly – staring into puddles, each one a mysterious pool of strangely shifting colour.

icypuddle

15 comments:

Lucy said...

oh, how beautiful!

Pilgrim/Heretic said...

Ooo, what a gorgeous picture. Everything smells good when it's melting like that, too.

Seeking Solace said...

Beautiful!!! You made me smile!!

Leslee said...

I agree with Seeking Solace. You make me smile! Your pictures are always amazing. God has given you great talent!

Scrivener said...

Awesome picture! If you ever decide to swap banner images, this would be a fun one to play with.

Sunny Delight said...

What a wonderful way to spend the morning, the image you painted with your words, is barely outshone by your photograph. Thank you.

Sue said...

Thanks. This is lovely!

Rob Helpy-Chalk said...

That is the best photo you've posted. Amazing.

lostinthemiddle said...

I've never seen anything like that. So lovely.

Thank you.

Rana said...

Beautiful. I especially like the way the streaks in the ice are crossed by the trunks of the reflected trees. Thanks for sharing it. :)

Loren said...

Beautiful.

Now I’m really missing the winter we haven’t had in the Pacific Northwest this year.

Mona Buonanotte said...

ooh, I would love to splash my un-mittened hands in that puddle....

listie said...

Wow; that's beautiful.

Anonymous said...

Thank you - I feel a little as if I got to go on the walk, too. What a beautiful photograph.

Phantom Scribbler said...

I'm with Rob Helpy-Chalk. Best. photo. ever!

What an eye you have, jo(e).