Ice on the move

  

We're approaching the end of the photos from Iceland, but I couldn't resist sharing a few more icebergs.  All photos from the Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon on 10 September 2024.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elemental

  

One of the things I enjoyed most about Iceland is how close you feel to the basic elements of the earth.  

Here are some photos that represent different forms of earth, water, and air.  As always, you can click on the images for larger versions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Such inspiring landscapes and seascapes!

Dalí droplets

While walking through the woods this afternoon, this series of droplets caught me eye.  From a distance, I couldn't quite tell what was going on.  It looked a bit surreal — How could the droplets at the lower edge be rising up?

 

Then I realized that the entire lower portion of the scene was a reflection of a narrow icy ledge that was now elevated above the surface of the stream.  So the lower droplets are reflections of the upper droplets.  If you're interested, here's a broader view (below).  The surface of the stream was quiet enough that the reflection was just about perfect!

 

 

Winter scenes

Winter scenes from the last few days in New England...

Salt marsh in Duxbury:

 

Snow Bunting habitat:

 

 

Frozen ripples in a stream:

 

 

 Icy sea dragon?  :)

 

Happy holidays, everyone!

Frozen fluidity -- Part 2

Following up last night's post, here are a few more ice photos.  As a reminder, these are close-ups of patterns within thin sheets of ice on tree trunks (photographed in Walpole, Massachusetts, on 26 December 2017):

 

 

 

 

It's so much fun to know that you can find beautiful patterns like this in the backyard!

 

Frozen fluidity

 

We were curious about the patterns in the ice droplets that I showed in last night's post, so we went out to look for more examples.  The frozen droplets were no longer there, but Eric spotted some amazing shapes and patterns in very thin sheets of ice on tree trunks.

I couldn't pick just one photo, so here are several examples.

 

Some of the patterns reminded us of old window glass:

 

The patches of ice were very small — most were only ~1-2 cm across.  The individual "cells" that you see in the images were much smaller than that, probably only ~2 mm across.  I captured these views with the microscope function on my point-and-shoot camera.  [I love that function!  It's like having a microscope in the field!]

 

Some of the cells contained very simple and regular patterns.  Others had very complex and chaotic patterns.  I'll show more of the latter tomorrow, but here's a hint of what's to come:

 

Following the path

 

The paths of air bubbles in a frozen water droplet photographed in Walpole, Massachusetts, on 25 December 2017.  The water droplet is hanging from the bottom of a Winterberry (Ilex verticillata) berry. 

This is an extreme close-up.  The water droplet was only ~4 mm long.

Once again, I'm not sure how these patterns were created.  But it's fascinating to follow the paths of the air bubbles and to wonder about these micro-landscapes in our backyards. 

  

One more:

 

So cool!

Winter celebration

 

Yesterday's combination of rain and cold temperatures caused glaze ice to form on tree branches in Walpole, Massachusetts.  The outer limbs were completely encased in an amazing layer of ice!

I'm not sure what conditions led to the pebbled appearance of the ice.  Do you know?

Here's another example (below).  The patterns and light running through the ice were stunning.  [I sure do miss cold winters in New England!]

 

One more picture, this time of several branches:

May you also find joy in the light of winter!

 

The beauty of winter

I wandered around the yard early this morning and just couldn't help taking pictures of the frost and ice.  (I sure do miss cold winters!)

I had trouble deciding which photo to share, so I'm offering a broad selection (below).  Pick your favorite!


Frost feathers 1:

 

 Frost feathers 2:

 

Ice ridges:

 

Ice ridges (up-close with bubbles and light):

 

White Pine:

 

Half-and-half:

 

Holiday bubbles

A few quick images of the ice along the edge of a small forest stream in Walpole, MA, on 24 December 2016 —

Leaf, bubble, rock:

 

Ice orbits:

 

Effervescent ice:

 

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Where am I?

Okay, this is a bit of a traveling game.  I'm attending a meeting outside of California.  I arrived late in the afternoon, but went for a brisk walk before heading in for the night.  I took a couple of quick photos.  Do you want to try to guess which city I'm in?

 

If you need some more clues: The city is named after a famous mountain.  There are three syllables in its name.  The picture above provides a couple of hints, too.  There's ice at the base of those sculptures — it's cold here!  And the sculptures are made of glass.  There's a famous museum in this city — the Museum of Glass.  This is the third largest city in the state.  There's a significant port nearby, and the city's motto is "When rails meet sails."

I'll tell a brief story, then give you the answer.  

The sculpture above is called Fluent Steps (by Martin Blank).  It rises from a reflecting pool outside the Museum of Glass.  When we encountered it, we didn't know what it was, but we were drawn to it, and then we were excited to see the ice.  People have obviously tossed coins into this pool when there isn't any ice.  But tonight, a few locals introduced us to a different game.  From the other side of the pool, they tossed coins onto the ice to see if they could get them to skim to where we were standing on the other side.  Fun!  And challenging.  If you've been ice skating, or played ice hockey outdoors, you'll know about this.  There can be lots of irregularities in the ice (see below), making it hard to predict the trajectory of the coin.

 

I had read that the Pacific Northwest would be seeing its first major winter storm this weekend.  However, we were grateful for the warm, but icy!, welcome from the locals in Tacoma, WA.  We loved the skimming-coin-across-the-ice-in-the-reflecting-pool game!

P.S.  Mt. Rainier used to be called Mount Tahoma.

P.P.S.  Now I also know about Chihuly's Bridge of Glass.  I'm going to have to try to find time to see it before we leave Tacoma!

The Dao of Ice

We've been traveling and settling in for an East Coast visit.  Tonight I barely made it outside for a quick walk in the backyard before the sun set.  I was drawn to the snowy banks of a small ice-covered stream.  We just don't get to see those wintery black-and-white scenes in Bodega Bay!

Not too many photo opportunities today, but here's a close-up of the ice:

 

I hope you enjoyed the winter solstice, and that you're able to find much peace and happiness and inspiration in the outdoors in the year to come!

P.S.  Eric thought the pattern in the ice resembled the yin-yang symbol, hence the title of this post.  I didn't see that until he mentioned it, but then it was fun to think about.  What else do you see in the ice?  Can you visualize how those patterns were formed?

Dreaming of ice

 

  

You know it's hot when I start dreaming about ice.  I'll admit I'm not a hot-weather person.  It's hard for me to even think when it's this hot.  So here's a simple picture from January 2007.  

I've always referred to the piece of ice in this image as an "ice bear."  It takes a little imagination, but can you see the bear outline, with the head on the left and tail on the right?

It's rare to get ice in tidepools here, but on 13 January 2007, it was cold enough for a thin layer of ice to form in a few of the uppermost tidepools.  I picked up a few pieces and held them against the sky for photos.

I'm working hard to concentrate on the ice bear to remember what it felt like that day...rather than sitting here sweltering!