winter welcomes

Yesterday, I walked along the Ottawa River / gchi ziibii. There were others, not many, but a few who were also walking or were cross-country skiing. Everyone I met was bundled-up to greet the biting cold arctic air. For past last week, we were in a deep freeze which hovered between -18 and below to – 38. That’s celsius folks! The guys on the weather networks warned people to stay indoors, stay warm, and be smart. If you go outside then be warned about frostbite and hypothermia. It doesn’t take long to freeze any bare skin out there. So I heed the warning and ventured outdoors. The key is layers. A warm layer under your pants, two pairs of socks (get the wool kind), proper winter clothing like a hat, scarf, and mitts (wool or wool blends). In this kind of weather, you can forget about trying to look cool. And you gotta move. You can’t be idle for too long. Unless you gotta stop for some photos like the ones I took yesterday, the first day of twenty-eighteen!

Natural sculptures. Weathered wood, gnarled by wind and the constant waves. Bleached by the setting sun.

n’waasechigan / my window

the ottawa river is frozen from ontario to quebec

wood debris in suspension

the first crypto-type of hibernation

icicles on defense

icicles link the earth, trees, and water

between the cracks is beauty

the river shifts, cracks

within lies layers of ice

time is frozen

crystals caught between the thaw and the freeze

you don’t really have to try hard to find beauty. you just gotta open your eyes and take a moment to recognize the tiniest forms are transformations. always changing and reinventing, and becoming something new to behold.

 

< be brave, be bold, be bee > 

happy new year folks!