Ice Storm, January, 2007
Winter. At last.
Of course, many of you know I have a sickness. Yeah. It's called loving winter. One of my aliases is Nanuk of the North. I love snow. I thrive on it. I crave it.
Okay, enough. I hear you laughing all the way up here in Upstate NY!
Today we were graced with ice that enclosed all things natural and fortunately didn't take out the power. We like flushing our toilets, thank you very much. Being on a well has its perks, but one of them isn't being self-sufficient during a power outage.
Here is a photographic journal of our yard today, and its scintillating offerings. If you're inspired to write a haiku about it, feel free to post and I'll add it to the photo of your choice.
Enjoy!
Aaron
Here's a lovely haiku sent in by literary critic and good friend,
Thomas Fortenberry:
Thomas Fortenberry:
lavender waves kiss
our frozen tree of life
now forever held
[c 2007 thomas fortenberry]
Dried Pods from Stella Dora Daylilies
One of my favorites. Love the snow crystals on the wire.
Red Berries, encapsulated
Not your typical apple tree photo - this is one
of the ancient trees that edge the back of the
grounds.
An old fence insulator from our horse paddock.
The birdfeeder needs filling!
The view behind our old paddock, blackberry canes crystal-coated.
Such symmetry in nature...
Closeup of a lawn ornament by our rose bushes and currants
An old fence post
Love the way this ice hangs...
Frozen Kale from the garden
Ice coated grape vine in corkscrew shape
This ice was so thick you could barely
see through it - dripped down from the
gutter overhead.
Circle of Life?
The birdbath is frozen
My friendly ghost shows up every so often.
Do you see his face in the lower circle?
I normally hate burdocks, but these were
enclosed in globes of ice. Glorious!
More red berries, sparkling against the sky
One of my favorites, a frozen lilac bud.
Duck with white plumage
And beautiful green throat
Nancy Luckhurst sent this one in. She's just starting up an editing business, and is a very talented writer. Check out her site to contact her at: www.nancyluckhurst.com
Sweet smile cherub face
Steadfast gaze, your quiet eyes
What is it you see?
***
Lesia Valentine, a fine paranormal writer, editor extraordinaire, and book trailer expert (you can hire her to make your trailers, too!) submitted this one:
You should have warned me
Little boy with haunted face
Would be coming soon.
And here are a few haiku from Jeanne Fielding, who just left NY for sunny Virginia!
Biting ice
Chillingly lovely
Stay indoors
***
***
Virginia
Ice scare no longer
Happiness
***
***
Wintry lass
icy fingers reach
not here. [smile]
Thanks, everyone, for sending them in!
- Aaron
Do you see the face? Maybe it's
my friendly ghost. ;o) If you want
to see my other ghost pix, click
here.
17 comments:
Aaaaaaaron! You didn't post all of my favorites here! Of course, I like the one with the ghost face in it, third from bottom; and I like the third one from the top that looks like a duck's head. When I went through the album you sent me, I came to the bird bath shot from down low, and went, "oooh, that's my favorite." Then I came to the long view of the wooden fence and went, "Oooh. Now that one is my favorite!" Then I came to the two of the berries and went, "Ooooh, oooh, oooh these are my favorites! I'm going to ask Aaron if I can put them on my blog!" Can I? Huh, huh? Can I?
You sure can! You can have any of my pix for free, Val. Anytime. Anyday. Consider it a small token of appreciation for all the fine editing you've done for me!
And thanks. I felt like I was so blessed today - how often do we get such weather? And I was home for it. Couldn't of been better. ;o)
Geez, Aaron, do you ever go to work anymore? ;-) In that kind of weather, I wouldn't go either! Thanks for letting me have some. I'm off to see if I can make them work. btw, I didn't have any problem loading your blog. It came right up, same as always.
Those are gorgeous, Aaron. You have a brilliant eye.
I live in north Florida, and it's been in the mid to upper seventies for the past few days. The only ice I ever get to see comes with a shot of Scotch poured over it. :)
I'm on a well, too, and when it looks like the power might go out (tropical storms, hurricanes) I fill a bathtub with water to use for the toilet tanks. Fortunately, we don't get many bad storms in this part of Florida.
Hi, Val!
Nah, I've been sick for a few days. It's actually been nice in a weird sort of way. Breathing isn't great, but my fingers and brain still work, so I've had fun doing some editing for friends and cleaning up a bunch of projects. After I get done procrastinating, I will force myself back to creating an outline for Firesong: an uhnoly grave (my fourth). That one's about the underground railroad, salt mines, Indian burial grounds, grave robbers, hidden rooms,and a minister who is suspected of terrible deeds. Only problem is I need to create a nice synopsis for it, and I don't remember precisely what happens in what order... so... an outline is in order. Okay. I'm off to do it! Thanks, Val!
Hey, Jude! (I know that's been done to death, but I get a kick out of it every time. Sorry!)
Thank you. ;o) And that Scotch sounds good!
Oh yeah, we had all bathtubs full to the brim and about six milk jugs full. The sterno was read, the wood piled by the door for the woodstove, flashlights and batteries lined up... and nothing. That's because we were prepared this time. Next time, when I lower my guard, we'll be in trouble! LOL.
Aaron, you are a superb photographer. I love the pictures more than I love winter. Been mild here with the exception of the wind storms that hit last night.
Thank you, Steve! Are you back from your vacation? I'll stop over and say hi. Except some new pix from your trip.
UAU!!!
Your photos are just perfect.
There are no words to describe them.
Kisses across the ocean
Lia
Well, thank you, Lia. Always happy to bring a smile to a reader's face. But I can't take all the credit - nature providing this wondrous feast and I was just there to snap the shutter. ;o)
Very much enjoyed the time I spent reading and looking around your site...as a poet myself, I found it a rewarding, inspiring look. Thank you...lovely photos.
Well, thank you, Lettershaper. Love your avatar - very mysterious. I'm glad you enjoyed the visit. I don't consider myself a poet - just a plain old mystery writer who likes to plunk a bit of poetry into my novels from time to time. ;o) Take care and come back soon!
Beautiful, beautiful photos. I love the winter wonderland of the blackberry canes. Is it my imagination or is the ghost face very detailed? Spooky!
Thanks, corn dog! Yeah, the whole yard was like a crystal forest, just unbelievably white and sparkly - every tree, every blade of grass, every stalk, was thickly coated. When the sun came out, it was almost blinding. I've never seen an ice storm like this that lasted so long. It dropped below freezing for the rest of the week, and it's still up on the trees!
The ghost face looks like a real person, and most definately NOT my reflection. I was astounded when I blew it up. There seems to be a face shape, eyes, and hair. I don't see a mouth and nose, but it's still pretty cool. I'll blow it up and post it in a minute. It may just be coincidence, but it's really fun thinking about it. ;o)
Hi Aaron, I stopped by again (waves)!
Hi, Val! Thanks for stopping in again! ;o)
Me come to visit 'cause of all the nice things you say to Val the southern gal. Me can see that she also really likes you too. Me also loves the winter except that this year Me be living without the georgeous white carpeting that usually covers me town during the cold season. Oh well, Me can always live vicariously through your photos.
Me waits not to see.
The end of winter's beauty.
Swans go way of snow.
Hi, Scary!
It's nice to see you over here! Glad you came by to experience winter vicariously through my pix. ;o) I can't believe it's the middle of winter and we still don't have enough snow on the fields to go cross country skiing. Oh well, we still have Feb. and March. Fingers crossed!
Stop by again!
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