Ice lilies

The morning dawned close to zero, but when the sun rose above the horizon, it brought with it at least a hint of warmth. By the time I got the stove and my belly stoked and headed out for a trek, it was about 10—not toasty, to be sure, but certainly tolerable. My path took me to the millpond, and I had high hopes of capturing some of the no doubt fantastic ice sculptures that had been created over night. I wasn't disappointed, but what really drew my eye was something I'd never seen before. Somehow the foam from the waterfall—a fluffy meringue—had been vortexed then frozen into a pair of white, water-lily leaves. The upturned edges reminded me of the foliage of the giant Amazon lily, which can be six feet across and strong enough to support the weight of a young child. These frozen-foam lilies, of course, are much smaller and only look strong. In truth, they couldn't support a frozen frog.