Icicle Art

I must confess:  I have been hiding from winter this year.

I have been watching the remarkable snowfall tallies, and actually cheering for more snow.  We've had 113 inches thus far this year, compared with 50 inches this time last year.  We are almost at the normal season's average of 121.  The way I look at it, if we've suffered through this much already, we may as well keep going and break a few records.  Mind you, every time I mention that to my husband, he drily suggests I can do all the rest of the shoveling this year.

Yet I've essentially been just watching the snow from indoors.  Instead of going out hiking, or snowshoeing, or looking for critter tracks, or in any other way enjoying the season, I have been holed up inside.  It's quite pathetic, really.  I mean, if one is going to live in this climate, one ought to find ways to appreciate all 4 seasons.  Yet instead I have been roasting my bones before the fire and occupying myself with artwork, trying to forget winter's bluster outside my door.  I just haven't the energy to deal with it.

It makes for good art, but rather a dearth of writing material for this blog, I am afraid.

Anywho, after cleaning the house and cooking chili and doing all sorts of domestic indoors things this afternoon, my husband called my attention to the icicles outside our spare bedroom window.  He kindly popped out the screen, and I shot a few pictures of the ice shining in the weak winter sunlight.  It's pretty much the only interaction I've had with winter all weekend.

The effects I achieved were not necessarily what I'd had in mind, but were fascinating nonetheless.  This new camera is such fun to play with, and ice is amazing stuff.  After a little adjustment to contrast, some of these photos look distinctly as though they are of metal, not ice.

Now I'm feeling cold after looking at and thinking so much about ice.  I think I'll plunk myself back in front of the fire with a book for the rest of the evening!