Tag Archives: ice

A Warm Kind of Cold

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Last week, I complained about the long brown winter we’ve had, and wondered when spring was coming.  Well, it’s still brown – we missed out completely on the last snow, which had been forecast to give us up to four inches of photographic beauty.

On the upside, I went out to my favorite wetland yesterday, and while it was only 16 degrees F, it actually felt much warmer than that.  A lack of wind helped, as did periodic sunshine, but the air just felt like it was warming.  It’s an odd thing, isn’t it?  The unemotional thermometer said 16 degrees, but  I think my knowledge that the temperature was going to get above freezing later in the day (it did!) helped warm me up.

There were other signs of impending spring.  Red-winged blackbird males have returned to begin setting up and defending their territories. (Females, the smarter ones, are apparently content to wait a few more weeks until it warms up and the boys have fought their silly little battles.)  Sandhill cranes are starting to fill the sky as the annual migratory phenomenon begins again here on the Central Platte River.  I’m still waiting for the first song sparrow to begin singing, and I’m guessing it’ll be a while until I see the first bees emerging, but things are looking up.

Here’s a photograph from my short hike yesterday.  I’ll share more later this week.

A panoramic photo made up of nine different images stitched together. The Nature Conservancy's Derr Wetland Restoration, Nebraska.

A panoramic photo made up of nine different images stitched together. The Nature Conservancy’s Derr Wetland Restoration, Nebraska.  Click on the photo to see a larger version of it that better portrays the feel of the site.

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Hubbard Fellowship Blog – Eliza’s Ice Photos

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A guest post by Eliza Perry, one of our Hubbard Fellows.  All photos are by Eliza:

Sorry to state the obvious, but it is cold. 

All kinds of internet wisdom has been popping up offering random coping mechanisms,
like “21 Hot Chocolate Recipes You’ll Need To Survive This Winter” and “23
Delicious Salads To Get You Through The Winter.” Salads and hot cocoa are very
important, this I can’t deny, but there’s also so much beauty in these frigid
temperatures. I am not new to the winter blues, but I try not to waste my sunny
day rations. Chris’s recent posts on still life ice portraits and river ice
behavior inspired me to venture outside with our new camera and make some
prairie ice art myself. It will be the last ice-related post for a while, we
promise!      (Editors note: I make no such promise.)

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At this point, my fingers were that odd red-hot feeling from the cold, so I gave up. I just loved how beautifully the ice distorted the landscape.


At this point, my fingers were getting that odd red-hot feeling from the cold, so I gave up. I just loved how beautifully the ice distorted the landscape.

On another note, I wanted to express my sincerest gratitude to all of those who have participated in the survey I posted last week. We’re learning some really neat things that will help us reflect on how we can do better.  I’m also learning a lot about how to conduct surveys!  There are already a number of things I would do differently in light of what I know now, but I’m learning that this is simply the nature of experimentation.

I will DEFINITELY write a post about my findings and supply links to any additional write-ups that I make.

For those who have not yet shared their thoughts about the blog, there is still time! I plan to close it for review this Friday. Click HERE to take the survey and fire away!