Thematic Photographic #38 --- Winter

Thematic Photographic is the brainchild of Carmi at Written, Inc. Each Wednesday evening he posts a theme and then participants --- any one who wants to play --- posts theme-related images on their blog. It's great fun and sometimes Carmi puts some toughies out there!

Take this week's theme: winter. When Carmi suggested this we had just seen some of our first sure signs of spring here in southern Missouri --- robins and red-winged black birds. We really weren't expecting wintry weather and I had already posted photos from our January ice storms. Carmi lives up in Canada and I think their winter last till June ;-) ! (My apologies to my Canadian friends! I know your winter only lasts till mid-May! Hee hee!) But what was I going to post? Well, on the last official day for reporting snowfall we had --- snowfall! We woke Saturday morning to a soft blanket of white and it continued to snow gently all day. Here on our ridge we got a couple of inches but the roads and driveways were still warm from the sunshine on Friday so the snow just made them wet. How cool is that? Beautiful, quiet snowfall and no shoveling!

Here are my images of winter:

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Thematic Photographic #34--- Simple As Sunshine After the Storm

Well, I went from Photo Phunk to three days in a row posting pictures of our winter storm. I should explain my enthusiasm for something as simple as snow and ice --- I haven't seen much of it during the past 30 years, and it is so beautiful!! Then Carmi posted this week's Thematic Photographic topic: simple. Aha! Simple, huh? Simple as water, H2O, in various forms.

Today the sky was blue and the sun was bright. Temperatures were just warm enough to start the melting process. The icicles below were hanging off our eaves and quickly melting. If you look closely you will see water droplets falling from the ice.

As the ice liquefied it became more like crystal than frosted glass and the sun shining through caused the branches to sparkle. The weakening ice also was breaking off the trees and, what I couldn't capture in the photos, created snapping and popping like a million bowls of Rice Krispies.

The branches of small evergreen trees and bare saplings held onto their icy jackets most of the day. The melting process is halted for the night as temperatures dropped back down below freezing.

The air contained enough moisture to create fog which settled into some of the valleys for most of the day.

The snow plows came through several times during the past couple of days, but the density of the ice under the snow made a clean sweep impossible. That's ice on our road! I did go into town today and used the 4WD in several places (wheee! I do love my truck!!), though the main roads were about 90% clear.

And what would winter storm albums be without a simple portrait of our snow-covered house?

The topic this week is simple. That brings to mind a multitude of subjects. What photos do you have of the simple side of life? Join us! The rules are simple!

Layers of White --- Up Close

The storm continued to blanket the Ozarks all through the night. Just before 10:00pm our power went out so I figured it would be a good time to hunker down under extra blankets, grab my book-lite and read in the quiet of a winter's night. The only sound was the snow brushing against the window on its way to the ground. We were lucky; our power was out for less than four hours. Thirty miles to the south Arkansas towns are still without power and look like war zones. Power lines and trees lie on the ground, still bearing the inch-thick ice that brought them down. Shelters are open; stores and gas stations are closed. Yes, we are very lucky here.

The snow was still lightly falling this morning. I was up earlier than normal so I got dressed to spend some time outside cleaning off the walk and driveway. The going was very slow and fruitless. The top layer was about an inch of soft snow, hiding the barrier of ice below. Scraping the ice from the driveway wasn't worth it since I didn't need to go out anyway. The garage door wouldn't open because of the ice holding it down, so I did chip that off. Below are a couple of photos of a chunk that was against the garage door. I didn't think to put a ruler against it for the photo, but the bottom layer is over an inch of ice. On top of that is sleet that is crustier than the layer of snow that I had already scraped off.

Then to the back deck where I could take in acres of untouched snow and ice-coated oak and black walnut trees. The sky didn't completely clear all day, but the snow did stop falling. Melting won't happen for a couple more days so I can enjoy this view awhile longer.

Now, no matter how bad things get we can always find someone or something that is worse off. The pictures below were on Baba's blog this morning. They were taken near Geneva City Switzerland. How about this for ICE?

Layers of White

We can always count on a winter storm to offer up photo ops, so I interrupt the afore-mentioned photo phunk to bring these tidbits of our freezing rain-sleet-snow storm.

Last night I stepped onto the patio and nearly landed on my butt-io! The invisible drizzle had waxed the ground to a slick sheen. Later when I had to take the garbage to the road I stepped into a half inch of sleet on the driveway -- don't forget the ice underneath. at 6:00 this morning when the dogs wanted out their usual trek down the back stairs would have amounted to animal cruelty so I let them out the front door knowing full well they wouldn't go very far. During the night freezing rain put a layer of ice over the sleet and the dogs could barely keep their footing.

Cookie (a girl) was able to brace her front paws against the edge of the grass and assume a safe position.

Shakes (a boy) was so comical as he tried to maintain the tripod position required for his constitutional.

Emma (a girl) is always very picky about where she settles but she couldn't keep her footing anywhere and was ready to give up and just hold it. Uh-uh! She finally hunkered down as needed.


The grass was encased in ice and sleet. The sleet came down quite heavily with the texture of gritty snow. The bird feeders held more icicles than seeds, but the birds were still able to enjoy a snack or just pose on an icy fence.

This evening, eight hours after the photos above were taken, we have well over an inch of ice and sleet on the ground and the precipitation is changing to snow. Forecasters are calling for 1-3 inches of snow tonight. Before it got too dark I snapped these photos of the shrubbery along the front porch:

From the looks of things there will be more photo ops tomorrow, possibly with sunshine to add sparkle to the white stuff.

Here in Branson we have treacherous roads, school closings, businesses closing early, and a generally slippery mess. But just a few miles to the south in Arkansas they have had nothing but freezing rain, leaving nearly two inches of ice on the ground and wrapping the limbs and wires with dangerously heavy coats of ice. Most of the power is out and full trees are falling under the weight. My husband and his partner are somewhere between here and St. Louis driving a semi with a 53 foot trailer. I keep them posted on the weather and wouldn't be surprised if they just pull over for the night.

I pray for safety for everyone in the Ozarks and the rest of the country as this system works its way from west Texas to Washington D.C.