Wilson LakeWARNING: This post will make you feel cold. Brew some hot tea and wrap up good before reading. While visiting the lake during the frigid weather my mom and I made time for some road trips. The snowfall where we were was much lighter than the eastern portion of the state where Eve lives so we were able to get out for odd road trip. Our last road trip was to the dam in search of pelicans.
What we found was an alien land, it's edges dripping with ice formations. The chop and splash of Wilson lake had covered everything alongside the Tennessee River. Initial coatings from relentless waves eventually created udders of ice reaching downward toward the steel blue, roiling waters.
When I say "we" I mean me and my camera for mom was all too happy staying inside the car with the heater going. Which is exactly where she needed to be, having had some surgical procedures recently. The goal was to get her out of the house so she could see something besides 4 walls and a television set. Birding expeditions always rock, and the dam is normally the perfect spot. While there we met a gentleman about her age who had seen pelicans AND the recent Operation Migration stop and flyover of Whooping Cranes! Now THAT'S a GOAL for me!
But I digress. While I watched all manner of waterfowl circling and calling in the brisk breeze, diving down into the boiling water to catch dinner I walked closer to the edge and looked down at the shoreline. You are seeing what I saw, or a small portion of it anyway.
The wind chill was fierce and I didn't have gloves on but I stayed until my fingers turned blood red and painful. There was so much beauty in these formations. Nature is the premiere artist and forever optimist. We always hear "take lemons and make lemonade" and that saying applies here as well. Except it could be "take freezing temperatures, strong winds and icy waters and make ice sculptures!" Such beauty is just beyond the edge - we just have to look for it.
11 comments:
Just don't expect to see ice formations like these in Alabama? Pretty and awesome! Or is it pretty awesome!
Wow, that is just gorgeous! I love the second to the last picture!
I bought some hunting gloves for the purpose of winter photography. They are black leather and a really nice fit that doesn't interfere with handling my camera.
Bo - this is a first, for me anyway. Also, the shallow parts of our rivers were iced over, bank to bank, which is also something I've not witnessed. Not to say perhaps it hasn't happened in the past but, as "they" say in the south..."Well, I NEVER!" LOL!
Robin - Thank you so much for the glove tip! I'll go scout around some local outdoor shops and see what I can find. My normal leather gloves are just too thick so I took them off and "suffered" for my art!
How lucky that these works of Nature's art are so rare! How could anything so spectacularly beautiful ever be considered commonplace? I've never seen anything quite like it, and your "ice udders" is a perfect description. What a wonderful outing.
Love the title Debi! I'll have to send your link to my Dairy Farmer best bud Deby in northern NY, she will get a kick out of this!
I'm so glad you found these amazing works of art. Thanks for freezing your fingers to share them with us.
Sending warm thoughts your way.
Absolutely beautiful. They remind of the dripping crystals in some of the modern rectangular chandeliers.
Thank you for your kind comments when stopping by my blog. Much appreciated.
LOL. Fortunately I am well wrapped and drinking good coffee, out by the woodstove in the kitchen, so the chilliness didn't affect me, which is a good thing. Lovely, interesting shots, Debi!
There is certainly so much beauty to be felt and seen in ice. In some ways we can look at our selves as ice sculptures. If we allow ourselves to melt, we can take on a new form, and whatever we want to experience, we momentarily freeze ourselves up again to experience a new form and the view from such a perspective.
Stunning...made me smile and shiver at once! BTW, you header is simply awesome! Kim
Oh, how amazing! I've never seen the like. Thank you for risking frostbite to bring us these amazing shots :) And I love the ones below too with those gorgeous ice shards... beautiful. Nature really is an artist!
Ha! They look like great big teeth in a great big mouth! How beautiful.
Post a Comment