The beauty and mystery of ice

Though we have not had a lot of cold wintery weather this year, I had the chance last weekend to explore around my sister's pond and get some pictures of the ice. It is amazing to me how many different shapes and patterns that you can see in it. Here are some of my favorite pictures that I took. 

This photo was from along one of the narrow edges of the pond -- where it had a little bit of run off. I found in interesting because of all the tiny bubbles in it 

Don't know if something made the cracks appear this way but it almost looks it is bubbling from underneath and one of them almost looks like a heart. Loved it 

I liked the patterns in the cracks and how thin the ice is around the edges 

Again all about the pattern. The crystals are just very interesting 

This one is the grass right on the edge of the pond. I don't know if water pooled there or if this was a residue from the cold -- I just thought it was cool how the blade of grass poked through the ice ....

I really liked this pattern. It almost looks like someone drizzled the design in the block of ice 

this one is all about the star shapes in the patterns and the fun contrast of dark and light 

This was frozen over the runoff area of the pond. I really liked the way it has patches that are clear and then the cloudy white where it is thicker.

This was along the edge of the stream off the pond. I liked how thin it was in spots that it had holes but still had the sparkly white patches and then of course the reflection ....

I like the contrast in this one where it looks like it has air bubbles underneath it and then also has more frosty looking areas 

The striping and shapes made this interesting. It almost looks like a face in the lower left  

This was from a patch in the pond where the ice had broken. I really like it because the shape around the open water reminded me of a man wearing a hat.  (Can you see it) plus the added bonus of the reflection of the branches ... 

I had to take this one. It made me thing of some kind of creature/ claw breaking up through the surface of the pond ......

I loved all the different kinds of bubbles just under the surface of the ice. 

The ice was not really thick in this part of the ice. I really liked the way the leaves were outlined and the droplets froze in the patterns 

The last few pictures are overviews of the pond. I love how the surface just looks like glass and has so many intersting curves and the added things like leaves and branches 

Took this around 9 am when the sun was starting to hit the ice. It was overcast but there was enough light to make shadows and give it a silver sheen 

I like this one because of the different textures and the tiny stick that pokes up towards the shore

As I said the morning light was making a silvery glow and I love the way it silhouetted the leaves and sticks 

And last but not least I saw this shadow on the silvery surface and knew I had to capture it. 

I really love exploring in all seasons and love really love all the different things you can find and see in the ice. Not sure what I will be taking pictures of next  but thanks as always for sharing my images with me.