Ice has a social life. Its changeability shapes the culture, language and stories of those who live near it!
~Robert Macfarlane
I went for a walk in our cold woods on Monday and came across some remnant ice patterns left from a combination of heavy rain followed by frigid temperatures while we were away for the holiday. Our little creek is a wet weather stream, usually only flowing after abundant rain in winter when most of the trees lining the creek bed are dormant.
Our now dry stream bed held onto some beautiful ice sculptures for a few days after the rains (click photos to enlarge)
It looked a bit odd to see ice art in a dry stream bed. There was even a perched ice shelf over a depression that had held a foot of water only a few days before. With the warming temperatures, the intricate ice patterns are retreating, leaving only memories of the ephemeral beauty they added to our woods. I’m glad I was able to enjoy them for a day at least…
Ice columns on rootlets where a small waterfall forms after heavy rains
A shelf of ice suspended almost a foot above a now dry pool
I held the phone underneath the ice shelf and took a photo up through the ice to capture the tree outlines above
Self portrait from below the ice shelf (the least glamorous photo of the day)
Roads End Naturalist 
Lovely ice art, and what a great idea to take those shots looking up through the ice! Thanks for the inspiration. 🙂
Thanks, Kim.
Incredible patterns and all so different. Nature is amazing.
Thanks, Melva. I couldn’t agree more, nature is amazing.
I had the great fortune to travel to Antarctica in 2000 and fell in love with ice bergs – amazing ice sculptures rising up from the ocean. And you could have two side by side that were completely different in form and colors. And then there were the penguins….
Just gorgeous! I too have been admiring and taking photos of the ice this past week. Nature still stuns me.
Thanks, and it still stuns me as well, especially if you slow down and take a closer look.
Hi Mike
Happy New Year to you and Melissa.
Thanks, Lucretia, and Happy New Year to you and yours as well.
Lovely sculptural fantasy images. Natures doodles. Such a satisfying tone on tone for the end of an interesting year. Thank you for looking beyond.
Thanks…”nature’ doodles”, I like that!
These are very cool Mike! (No pun intended)
Thanks, Lynn.