Scenes from Winters Past, II

Photo Essay

My topic today is ice. Scenes from Winters Past may turn out to be Scenes from Winter Future. The weather forecast mentions the “s-word.” The one that ends in “-ow.” It’s certainly cold enough for snow, especially in the evening. But is it damp enough? Maybe tomorrow. The weather is notoriously difficult to predict around here. The forecasters often get it wrong.

Both weather phenomena, snow and ice, bring to mind poems by Robert Frost: “Fire and Ice” and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.” Of course, neither poem is solely about natural phenomena. The first poem is about the destructive power of human emotion–desire and hate. The second seems to be about the enchantment of watching snow falling in the woods on a dark night, but is also about the journey of life and how duty pulls humans away from enjoying the wonders of nature.

On his radio show, A Prairie Home Companion, Garrison Keillor once said that it was snowing in Minnesota and that people all over the state were writing poems. Snow and ice make me want to write poems, too. I think I’m a bit better with photography than poetry.

Here’s a brief pause to enjoy another often overlooked natural beauty.

Word Press’s algorithm decided what size my photos should be.

https://poets.org/poem/fire-and-ice

https://poets.org/poem/stopping-woods-snowy-evening