Winter's come

Looks like we're having the first real winter in any clear memory. Started icey, never really recovering with a warm spell like it has in recent years.

Now we're snow covered. Slow accumulation over a few days. The predicted, and predicatably dependable, winds to blow it all into the river did not come. Yet.

Summertime Riverfront Kids Fountain

Crunch

The accumulation of ice over the weekend had the expected effect. Branches and trees down in every yard and on every street. Our own "wildlife tree" decided to loose a limb. Right into the middle of some lawn chairs.
Tossed a line up into the tree to see what else would shake loose. The cars are be safe now. And the birds and squirrels still have a hang out.

Icey Art II

This dogwood is a bit of conflict between Diane and I. Its beauty saves it yearly. A bit of extreme pruning helps also.

Icey Art

We had some freezing rain Friday night. Chipping the ice encrusted cars Saturday morning, I wondered what works of art were created. There had to be a picture somewhere in the yard.
A couple weekends ago, we went to Lakeview Museum here in Peoria for a perhaps once in a lifetime (convenience-wise) opportunity. Anne Adams loaned 72 photographs of her father's thru March.
What would Ansel do in our yard this morning after an ice storm?
It was midafternoon when I walked around back to dump some water. The pattern of the tree rings, textures of the wood and ice, near natural black & white reminded me of my thoughts that morning. Here's my poor attempt.. Olympus D-520 digital camera. Unaltered.