Nice ice

I've never been much of a fan of winter, and the snow and ice and cold it brings, and even less so now that I am approaching the beginning of my sixth decade of existence in this form. 

(Seconds after I typed that last line, I glanced up from my keyboard and saw out of the kitchen windows that new snow is flurrying down.

Groan.)

However, I also admit that winter, brutal and nasty as it can be, also occasionally brings with it some beautiful sights, large and small. Case in point: I was checking on some stuff in my barn, and noticed a lot of ice forming on the evergreen shrubbery next to the barn door, from water dripping off the edge of the barn roof.

I've always liked the look of things encased in ice, especially plant life -- there is something magical about it, as if the ice is some kind of transparent chrysalis for the vegetation, which will somehow be transformed when spring comes and the ice melts away.

Here are a few shots I took with my pocket camera, trying to get in close and at different angles to capture the look of this phenomenon. -- PL