by ice and reflections
a few of my favourite Christmas photos
at a special place on Vancouver Island, near Victoria on a little lake
with a thin layer of crackled ice on Christmas morning
at the home of middle daughter’s family where we all gathered for feasts, music, gifts
back home with eldest daughter and husband visiting here as well
now just the two of us catching up with photos, messages and a nap or two
on this fifth day of Christmas
reflections on this year’s winding down
thoughts of dear faraway family, friends and readers
hope all are having a pleasant holiday
as we are about to cross into a new year
December 29, 2013 in Culture, Nature, Photoworks by Marja-Leena
Your ice is pretty but I’m happy to pass on it here, the wind and rain will suffice!
Enjoy the remaining holidays, and happy New Year to you and yours.
Lucy, we were lucky that the weather was quite mild and mostly bright, even sunny, during the days at the lake. Some of the ice was leftover from a cold snap a week earlier, mostly lingering on the north side where the sun did not reach. The very thin slivers on the surfce made interesting patterns which I was unable to capture as well as I would have liked.
Our granddaughters and the neighbourhood children have been anxiously waiting for more ice, enough to make it safe to skate on the lake.
Thank you for the good wishes!
I do love the effect of reflections like this, with the heavy trees at the top, and delicate tracery of twigs at the bottom, the water linking the two. The black and white suits this time of year when one can see structures and patterns. Lovely.
Enjoy the quiet contemplations of these days of looking back and then forward.
Olga, it is interesting how black and white these turned out though there was colour around. Some of my other photos caught the reflections of the brilliantly bright colour of mosses on the rocks on the far side of the lake but they did not show well when made into a small image for the blog.
Thanks for the wishes. We certainly are enjoying the quiet of being just the two of us after a busy month, and thus time to reflect and contemplate.
We are being drenched with rain and thunder and lighting has been crashing around us for hours. But we are safe and cozy in our Hawaiian home. My daughter is doing a little computer work and the granddaughters are drawing colorful pictures with pastels of tropical flowers.
We are having a wonderful holiday and wish the same for you and your family, dear Marja-Leena!
Hattie, thanks for the wishes! Glad you are having a wonderful holiday with your family.
Your storm sounds like a Hawaiian Express in the making which might head our way as often it does. We’ve had less rain here than usual for November and December so maybe January will turn wetter. The mountains need more snow too.
Dear Marja-Leena, those are wonderful images! We have had a rainy Christmas which is odd: usually it is cold and lots of snow. Have a joyful new year!
Leena, I am very pleased you like these photos, and kiitos for the New Year’s wishes!
I read the Finnish news regularly and have noticed the unusually warm and almost snow-free winter in Finland, especially in the south.
The reflections of the fragile ice forms are lovely. On our walk in the park yesterday everything there was black, white and gray too – under a leaden sky. There weren’t many people out so it was easy to imagine we were walking around in a 1950s pre-Kodachrome world.
I wish for you a wonderful New Year, Marja-Leena – and a skating pond for your granddaughters.
Susan, that is an interesting observation – a pre-Kodachrome world! Suddenly I have the urge to pull out old photo albums. Thanks so much for your good wishes.