Freeze, thaw, freeze

Fluidity lost

Music brings a warm glow to my vision, thawing mind and muscle from their endless wintering.

~ Haruki Murakami, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

Fluidity gained

What a roller coaster winter it has been for us here on the Eastern Shore.  I’m not sure how many freeze-thaw-freeze-thaw cycles we’ve been through since the beginning of the year.  February, so they say, is one for the record books in terms of cold.

Liquid and solid

Back Creek (where our dock is located) has frozen and thawed.  It never freezes completely on the surface because it is tidal and there are always little channels running along the side or holes in the middle where the water comes in at high tide.

Drop by drop

We had quite a warm-up on Sunday.  It didn’t melt all of the snow and ice, but did produce a lot of slush.  We were left with patches of snow across the lawn and in the woods when the freezing temperatures returned yesterday.

Where the ice nymphs roam

It’s too cold outside for angels to fly.

~ Ed Sheeran

Becoming slush

The blackbirds have stopped coming to the feeders now that they can get to the ground (without a covering of snow) again.  Even the little birds stopped coming around during Sunday’s thaw.  They must have found better things to eat.  Or maybe they wanted a little more variety in their diet.

When warm air and rain meet cold snow and ice fog lifts. (The boathouse on the creek.)

It’s cold again today (20’s).  The Great Blue Heron who visits our lagoon was sliding on the ice this morning.  It didn’t take him long to give up and go look for some open water.  I hope he found it.

Snow fog softens the landscape.

I reckon that’s about it from the Wabi-Sabi Ranch on this cold and sunny Tuesday.  Sunset might be interesting this evening.  If you’re up for it and can stand the cold, meet me at the Point.  The ice on the shore has been changing as the temperature goes up and down, and there are some interesting patterns.  If we’re really lucky, we’ll see the sunset colors reflected on the ice.

Sunday at sunset.

Sunset this evening is scheduled for 5:51 PM.  Aren’t you just loving these longer periods of daylight?

Even with the clouds moving in, the colors are pretty.

Be good, be kind, be loving.  Just Be.  🙂

Puddles on ice.

Today’s joys:  Watching leaves twirl around in the wind; playing with paint and glue; lunch with M; sunshine; listening to music.

Goodnight, Sun.