The Low Down and Dirty Dancing Joyful Blues

It was another sunny day in central Pennsylvania, and those things can be pretty darn elusive this time of year. So my husband and I seized the day, and went out for tostadas (our first since I broke two teeth in November, then had them fixed), followed by a hike at the former Dry Hollow property that is the newest part of Rothrock State Forest these days.

The woods are clear of snow here, but there is ice, and it is the fun, freshly formed kind with lots of bubbles. Though the ground was frozen when we arrived, the afternoon sun began to turn much of it into mud, as it melted my icy puddles.

The vernal ponds are frozen, but not by much, and the surface is hard and clear and good for gazing; and for reflections, as we saw yesterday. We came across this blue bucket near the old camp with a frozen surface, and just for kicks, I pointed my camera down into the ice and snapped a few shots. I figured they would be boring shots, but what the heck, they'd be blue, so let's go for it!

Well, the first few photos of that blue bucket ice were pretty normal. They were lovely, uniform bubbles, all organized and behaving. But in the last two pictures, the bubbles turned a little bit randy. The ones above seem to be gyrating about, with different shapes among them, breaking ALL the rules. These bubbles have the low down and dirty dancing joyful blues! :-)

The blue bucket pictures are also hopeful in that they show that you don't have to go big or go fancy to snag some decent frozen bubble shots. You can grow the bubbles yourself in a mere bucket. I showed the photo set to my husband, and he said, "I guess I'm glad I didn't dump the ice OUT of that bucket!" Yeah, I guess so!

We sat on a sunny hillside for much of the afternoon, listening to music and talking about things as they are, as they were, as they will be. The kind of chatter that is fun on a warm and sunny afternoon that is a respite in the midst of winter.

Then we turned and walked beyond the point where either of us had ever gone before, and explored another corner of the property that had orange leaves still on the trees. Oak, I think, and you may see a photo of some of those trees in the extras.

The tree shadow on the left ground mirrored the branches to the top left, with the orange haze giving it all a nice glow. It felt happy, perhaps more October than January. Branches raised, the tree almost seemed as though it, too, were dancing.

Then, as the light began to shift and the shadows grow long, we wrapped things up and walked back down the hill, got in our car, and headed for home. All in all, it was about a five-mile day: a day of sunshine and blue skies, of low down and dirty joyful blue ice gyrating in the bucket, and dancing orange trees.

Now, I've got to have a blues song to go with my blue image above. And I pick this one: Cross Road Blues, by Robert Johnson. And for my dancing trees, and as for my love and I, let's just say this: we're having the time of our lives, so here's the second tune: Dirty Dancing's I've Had the Time of My Life, by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes.

P.S. I posted the blue frozen bubble pics on Facebook, and one of my friends coolly noted: Museum docents a hundred years from now will be noting that this was known as Anita’s “Blue Phase."  :-) Oh my gosh, I'm dying laughing! To be followed by my Rose Phase, and eventually Cubism, I suppose!