Strange Patterns On The River, And Strange Things Not In It

I may have mentioned a time or two dozen that I take my point-and-shoot camera everywhere with me now. You never know what you're going to see, even on a path you walk every day. That's part of the draw of walking outside for me. I don't think I'd stick with walking around a track or on a treadmill for very long.

Last week I was delighted to see these patterns in the ice on the nearby river. The currents in the river probably had something to do with these swirls and sworls. The first two photos were taken facing away from the sun, and have this ghostly blue-white cast. The rest were taken toward the sun, and look normal, but I still find them intriguing.

Do you see the open water at the left and right of the above shot? Below is a closer look at the water to the right, where some gulls had gathered to take advantage of the "liquid ice":

A few days later, the surface of the water had frozen again, but it was only a thin layer of ice as I could hear it moving and shifting, giving off cracking and crunching noises as I listened. The freeze/thaw cycle we have seen so far this winter has meant the ice is never very thick, and sometimes not there at all. That may change as we head into the coldest part of the season.

At least we don't have any of these in our river:

... although they ARE beautiful ...

And in the summertime, there are none of these:

Or these:

Or these:

... although I'm not absolutely sure about that purple guy ...


Have you ever been up close and personal with an iceberg? a shark? the Loch Ness monster? an octopus? Any other strange phenomena? Dig deep, and tell me what marvels you've seen with your own two eyes ...

(Final four pictures courtesy of Pixabay.)