Winter Wear

Icy © 2007

Ice shrouded seed heads
are warming in the gray fog.
Glistening drip-drop.

 

Owen Conservation Park, Madison, Wisconsin

Walk into the Unknown

Winter Path © 2007

Care to take a walk?  Maybe to the wild side?

Winter day in Owen Conservation Park in Madison, Wisconsin.

Icicles

Icicles © 2007

Whether the eave-drops fall
Heard only in the trances of the blast,
Or if the secret ministry of frost
Shall hang them up in silent icicles
Quietly shining to the quiet moon.
~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Icicles at -7˚F. They are not dripping. They’re not even anticipating dripping. They’re very, very cold. Another winter scene from Owen Conservation Park in frigid Madison, Wisconsin

Winter Lights

Winter Lights

Winter Lights © 2007

World of illusion
  Black and white, and white, and white.
Illumination

Snowfall in Madison, WI as of December 6th, 2007: 6 inches of snow followed by a one inch ice layer followed by another 6 inch snowfall. This makes for interesting walking. Either you sink into 6 inches of snow and slide on the ice, or you sink into 6 inches of snow, crack through the ice and lurch forward as you drop another 6 inches. This photograph was taken only 5 steps from my back porch. Maybe you can understand why I chose to go no further than 5 feet for a photo. On the positive side, I only fell once.

Ah, winter. I celebrate your return.

Oak Leaves and Shadows

Oak Leaves and Shadow

Leaves and Shadows © 2007

“We ascribe beauty to that which is simple;
which has no superfluous parts;
which exactly answers its end;
which stands related to all things;
which is the mean of many extremes.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, American philosopher and poet (1803-1882)

“I hate quotations.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson, American satirist (as noted above)

The first real fall of snow (only 3 inches) fell Sunday, December 2nd, though tricky Mother Nature capped her display of winter glory with an inch of glassy ice.

When I went to shoot photos yesterday morning, I only went about 10 feet from the start of the path, and fell twice going that far. Therefore today’s photo is a simple one, though it does applaud the mighty oak leaf, who refuses to acknowledge winter’s demise of leaves, and the sun-cast shadows that make playful designs in the snow.