Heaven Beneath Our Feet

"Heaven is under our feet as well as above our heads." 
~Henry David Thoreau~

We had a mild spell earlier in the week, but temperatures dropped very quickly on Wednesday night; and so on Thursday morning, I wanted to walk over and check out the status of the ice in the Barrens. When the fast temp-fall happens, sometimes unusual and exciting ice formations occur. What can I say? I've apparently become some sort of connoisseur of ice.

What I found: the ponds are just starting to freeze back up, and there is a small amount of ice along the edges. But I discovered the beautiful ice I was seeking on some ephemeral puddles in the gamelands. Here is just one of many shots I took, of the crystal swirls and ice formations.

Each shot seemed like an accidental collage made up of natural, organic things. You may see leaves and twigs and what-not underneath. I'll bet there's moss, and dirt, and tiny growing things. Springtime will wake them up. The ponds will come to life. The woods will ring again with peeper song.

I became a girl mesmerized by the ice, bending over, kneeling, taking many shots, from every angle. It is amazing, isn't it? The wonder of water? That it does these things at low temperatures; that it turns to ice, and displays each lovely thing, crystallized, made into art.

Oh, friend, look down: you will find so many reasons for wonder, for Heaven is lying at your feet. <3

Our soundtrack song is the Eagles, with Learn To Be Still. 

P.S. Music trivia. In case you did not know this already, now you do: Don Henley was instrumental in saving Henry David Thoreau's beloved Walden Woods. He founded the Walden Woods Project in 1990, and got a bunch of musicians together to make a benefit album, Common Thread, released in 1993. One of the songs on that album was Take It Easy, performed by Travis Tritt. Tritt insisted the Eagles appear in his video for the cover song. They had a great time together, and the Eagles reunited the following year for the Hell Freezes Over tour from 1994 to 1996. It was one of the most successful tours in rock history. (And now you know the rest of the story!)