Winter textures

[vaneramos]

In case the second image puzzles anyone—it is minnows underwater. The next question is where. It was taken today in the same Eramosa River where I photographed the ice crystals in the first image. The minnows swarm in a short, wide ditch bearing relatively warm effluent from the storm sewers. It's an awesome manifestation of nature's fecundity even under the crust of winter. I've heard that marine habitat under polar ice shelves is one of the most productive and diverse on earth.

After a few dull days of frozen bare ground when snow seemed always imminent, it finally came yesterday afternoon, suddenly as a belch from heaven, about 8 cm (4") in four hours. This afternoon the sky was blinding blue.