Break the Ice

Recently, I was on a mission to get to the beach after a snow storm.  After a conversation with a certain West Coast cousin, we both realized that we had never seen the beach after a good snowfall.  Although, this wouldn't seem so unreasonable for her, I was a bit ashamed that in my lifetime dwelling here on the East Coast, I had never ventured to the beach in the winter.  March, yes, but not January during a Polar Vortex. While one son braved the cold with me, the other stayed in the car; viewing the ice and snow from the a warm car interior.  Smart.

Obviously, with the way the tide works, not much snow remained at the waters' edge, however, it was the ice encasing the objects along the shore that made for some very interesting textures and colors.  After showing these pictures around, the comments were similar, "It looks so cold."  No disagreement there, it was cold.

But, I couldn't help think about the difference in the lighting at the beach in January versus June.  The reflected light of a crisp blue sky on both the ocean, and the prominent ice-capped boulders, made for a very cold-looking landscape, indeed.  I mean, even the sky looks icy.

Despite the cold, it was an interesting 30 minutes out of our day to stop and smell the roses, or in this case, stop and break the ice.... 

....And, that is exactly what a ten-year old boy did.