Wednesday Vignette: Snow Patterns
/My Vignette is from this month's snow storm that dropped 13" on our Scappoose home, with no wind, and unbroken deep freezes that lasted a week. This extended freeze, coupled with heavy snow at the beginning of such a freeze, made it unusual for western Oregon. It was quite beautiful.
On the first night, the snow piled deep on some circular wire tomato cages that were still standing in the yard.
My Wednesday Vignette happened the next day. Something about the "just right" moisture content in the snow, the tempertures (20's F during the day and low teens at night), and gravity, created these sculptural effects on the wire.
The snow, frozen in place, was tall and thin...
...creating a scrim of snow that you could see through, like puffs of clouds, or cotton candy, or stained glass.
Where it broke away, it formed a wave, frozen in place.
Next to the wire cages, this Jen Ellsworth sculpture framed the path I had dug the night before (swept was more like it--the snow was so light). In the background is my water feature. Five basalt boulders form a backdrop to a little fountain.
"Snow patterns" is my theme today. It did not take long before my little path was covered in this familiar motif.
Above: the five basalt columns of the water feature.
I love these rocks.
The sun melting a drop or two of ice was what drew me to this detail. But in the background as well: more of the frozen wave sculpturing happening along the basalt. What could cause this phenomenon? Most intriguing.
That's my little feature for today. Find more of this week's Wednesday Vignettes shared at the blog of Flutter & Hum.
Story and photography by Alyse Lansing, © 2017, all rights reserved.
