Sunday, January 18, 2009

Ice Fantasy

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Since early Fall I’ve been admiring everyone’s snowy landscapes from all over the country and Canada. I don’t have snow to offer here today, but I have ice. So, go ahead and laugh…


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Yeah, this is a joke compared to the frozen ponds my daughter skated on in Maryland. But, it’s ice. And I like it.


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The meteorologists on local TV news in Charlotte make me crazy every morning and evening. How long can you dwell on a high of 50 degrees and sunny? How many ways can you deliver the story? After the first fifteen seconds of a lengthy segment, I tune them out because there’s no weather in Charlotte, other than a thunderstorm or rain shower once a month.


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Oh, I forgot. The reports of drought and rain chances were good for fifteen minutes of coverage every evening for six months straight. It never rained…

We might have a windy day or two in a row. Or fog. And if there are clouds with it, the weather reporters can barely hide their excitement about it all.


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Oh, the talk about yesterday’s weather was sensational. Would we break a record set back in 1800-something with 4 degrees on Saturday morning? Naaaa – we were in the low teens or maybe below 10. I don’t even remember.


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I’m just happy I had some ice to get all goofy about yesterday. When the sun was rising, I bundled up and sat on the pond, and soon realized I have forgotten much about macro photography :o/ Doesn’t help when your fingers are numb, either.


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So, we have ice. Our winter here in Charlotte won’t be complete without our one-half inch dusting of snow that melts before noon. I’m waiting, and I know those meteorologists are already having night sweats about all those school closings and the city shutting down. They’re probably planning a “Snow Show” like WJZ-TV does in Baltimore during a blizzard. Get the yardstick!

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The Pine Siskins are so small and pretty! I can’t get enough looks at them while they’re here.


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More on cold and hungry birds later.


Smoke Free: 7 days :o)

I’m so blessed and thankful to receive your encouraging comments on my most recent "Rehab" post. Y’all lift me up!

43 comments:

Kerri Farley said...

Beautiful pics of the ice! I especially LOVE the one with the fish!!
One week down....that is Fabulous! Keep up the good work!

Sherri said...

Great shots, Mary. Weather here in central Gulf Coast Florida is pretty broing in the winter...but lovely. Come on down in late summer, it can get pretty interesting. LOL

Dog_geek said...

Our creek is frozen over here, but no snow - maybe tonight, though! Congrats on 7 days - keep up the great work! Woohoo!!

TR Ryan said...

These are stunning Mary! I would kill for some ice and a nice gray day as backdrop. Nope, perpetually sunny and 45 for weeks! Blah!

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

Seven Days!!

YAAAAY MAAAAAYYY!!!

You got the macros spot on. Isn't ice beautiful? Prettier than jewells.

Robin's Nesting Place said...

Your ice pictures are so amazing! I could go with some mundane weather about now. I'm so very sick of winter already.

Keep up the good work, I know you can do it, Mary!

Thank you for your sweet comment about the new job!

Tina said...

Mary,
Absolutely love that icey pond with the fish swimming underneath the surface! I really enjoyed all your photos, as usual, very nicely done. I would love to help you out with some snow..but I would also trade you a few days of 50s and sun right now..grass is always greener, I guess. Cheering you on for more of those smoke-free days! Good job!

jane augenstein said...

Nice ICE Mary! Your pictures are always so good, love the bird, beautiful!
Keep up the good work....... You Can Do It!!! :-)

Carol Michel said...

I've been reading a lot about pine siskins on the blogs, okay, maybe it is a little, but folks are sure excited to see them. Can you tell me why? What makes them so special, other than they are very cute little birds.

Carol, May Dreams Gardens

Cheryl said...

I love ice photos Mary...and yours as always are beautiful.

Well done with seven days.....thinking of you......

jane augenstein said...

Mary, I have something for you on my blog.... lemonade! :-) Go check it out!

Heidi said...

LOL Mary! At least you got ice! We've had nothing but frost on rooftops for about 1/2 an hour in the morning. Meterologists in your area apparently, and most definitely in ours have the cushiest jobs in the world! I mean, with over 300 sunny days per year, how do you come up with something fresh day in day out?

But I wouldn't trade it for anything. The weather was so exciting in Kansas the two years I lived there, but it changed so rapidly I barely had time to enjoy it. I love thunderstorms though. I wish we had them more than once a year :(

Keep up the good work Mary! Fresh air... ahhhhhh!

MicheleRF said...

Gorgeous ice crystals! I think I have about 20 inches of snow acculmulated on my deck as of this morning. Not the most we've had but enough! Congrats on the one week mark!

Q said...

Dear Mary,
I too love the look of ice...we have had our share and am happy you have some to take photos of...it is pretty.
So happy to see the siskins are staying around. They are so cute.
It warmed to 48 degrees today. Nice break. My weather changes so fast I always have one eye on the sky.
Sherry

Dawn Fine said...

I love love the frosty icey photos...
Congrats on 7 days without the smokey smelly stuff...tee hee...you go girl!

KGMom said...

Mary--we are pretty much sans snow here too--in central PA. And we SHOULD have it.
Oh, we have the same news people here--blah blah blah. In addition to the weather that occupies too much of the "news"--we also have the farm show this week. Every year a farm show story. And in February every year, a ground hog day story. PUH-LEASE.

Kim said...

Wooo Hoooo Mary, keep it up!!!

I love all of the pictures but the one with the fish is breath taking.

Susan Gets Native said...

So your weathermen pee their pants when you get clouds?
You crack me up to no end.

One week....that's the hard part, Mary. And you did it! It gets a little easier now, every day. Promise.
Hugs, hugs, hugs.

Alan Pulley said...

Hey Mary,
We're getting some similar weather up here. Their calling for a chance of light snow tomorrow afternoon, but I'm not sure if they really know what it’s going to do. Love that first photo. Is that your pond? What kind of shrub is that beside the bench? Love the way that the backlit sun shines through it.

Mary said...

Alan, yes, that a pond off my back deck and that's a butterfly bush near the bench. I can sit on the bench and photograph butterflies!

NatureWoman said...

Congratulations Mary! Keep up the great (hard) work!
I love your ice photos. I'm not laughing, I love ice crystals.

jason said...

Enchanting photos of the ice. You folks got it a lot colder than we did (we passed on the whole threat of arctic invasion and let it slide east; hope you don't mind!). BTW, how do the fish do in such cold temperatures? Assuming the pond doesn't freeze over entirely, are they just okay with it?

Congratulations on week number one! A day at a time is all it takes.

Rose said...

Beautiful photos, Mary! A lovely as they are, believe me, ice can get old really fast:)

Congratulations on making it a week! The hard part is behind you; keep it up!

Mary said...

Jason,

When it starts to freeze, their metabs slow down and they sit at the bottom. And, the pond will probably never completely freeze over as the pump runs a waterfall year-round. Up north during deep freezes, I used to throw play balls on the water surface to keep some spots from freezing so gases could escape.

Anonymous said...

Just think, in a few weeks, the redbuds will be blooming. Hang in there. Glad you had some fun with the ice.

Debbie said...

Lovely ice shots, Mary. We have lots of ice, snow, frigid temps, wind, you name it, but I wouldn't mind some warmer temps right about now.

We have also had a nice number of Pine Siskins in with our Goldfinches. It is so nice to have them this winter.

Keep up the great work!

Wendy said...

Oh I love the pic of the icy pond and the koi fish swimming underneath.
Love the little siskins too.
7 days without a cig. Yippeeeee!

RuthieJ said...

There's just something so wrong about seeing green vegetation coated with ice!
I'm glad you're enjoying it though Mary--it's got to be nice knowing it will be melting in hours rather than months!

Congratulations on your first smoke-free week!

A New England Life said...

Keep up the rehab Mary! Yippee!!!!

Great ice shots! How the heck those fish survive I don't know. Love the Siskins too! I took a great shot of a Siskin bum if you want to borrow it. lol!

Be glad you don't have all the snow we do, it's brutal! But the birds came out in droves today.

Sharon

JeanMac said...

Wow! Some of those pictures are worthy of a frame - well,all of them!

Aim said...

That is a great photo of the bird! I love all your ice shots--don't the fishies hate the ice?!

Anonymous said...

these are such stunning photos . . . !

Heather said...

Wow Mary, these are awesome photos. I see you went right to work on practicing your macro skills! I love your pond - it looks huge and beautiful. It must be marvelous to observe at any time of year.

Jayne said...

No ice here, and you can just keep it there Mar. :c) Love your pretty icy photos though. Congrats on 7 whole days!!

Peg Silloway said...

The WJZ-TV folks haven't had anything to work with for a Snow Show this year, Mary - though there are white flakes drifting lazily down outside now. We do have lots of ice after several days well below freezing. Love your photos, as always, especially your sugar-coated turtle by the pond.

Seven days - way to go!

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Mary, your ice photos are great. I especially like the one with the fish playing peek a boo. It is funny that on your sidebar there is a photo of a Great Blue Heron right beside that picture. I hope the Herons don't find your pretty fish.

The ice with the bubbles frozen inside is good too. There is even one that has what appears as little leaves shaped like water lily leaves.

I am so proud of you for 7 days of no smoking. You are on a roll...

Minerva said...

Yes, there is nothing like Don and Marty, all whipped up into a frenzy at the prospect of SNOW in Baltimore! He he!

PJ said...

wow..I've been away a bit, but have to give you my suppost..I know that is hard.My husband did it in '97..he just took off jogging. gained some pounds but sooooooo worth it! Way to go! your ice pictures are awesome..the fine details go on forever!

Mary C said...

Mary, that's a beautiful shot of a beautiful pine siskin. So crisp. Great job...great job on all your photos. Those macro ice photos are so cool looking. And way to go being smoke free for a whole week! Keep up the good work.

Elaine said...

Such pretty icy pictures. At least you had some interesting weather for a change.

Up here in Boston we're all tired of winter already. I do have to say it is beautiful.

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Mary, Glad to see your progress... Keep doing it--one day at a time!!!!

I think your ice is gorgeous. Speaking of Charlotte, when my son lived there several years ago, they had a 14" snow.. Were you there then? I think it was about 4-5 yrs. ago..???
Hugs,
Betsy

Anonymous said...

you look funny on your profile picture, made me think of someone else. pics of nature are nice too. "can I call you mum ?" (culpi)

Larry said...

Great job with the photos-I especially like the siskin photo.I'm glad your winter wasn't a total bust and at least you have some ice.-I can have some Connecticut snow shipped to you if the price is right.