READING THE LANDSCAPE SERIES: Microclimates

Watching this ice storm melt is like lifting the veil on the energetics of elemental forces in the landscape. Where does the water gather and freeze, or trickle and melt? Where is the whipping wind persistent enough to keep a bent branch permanently encased in ice, even as it twinkles in the sun? It is as revelatory as it is enchanting.

Driving along a country road yesterday morning the scene of an open pasture in the morning sun, each blade of grass individually coated in glass ice, was so mesmerizing I had to pull my car over on the side of the road to take a closer look. I hurried out of the vehicle, hazards on, waving my cellphone above my head to catch an image like a rabid fan running toward the stage.

When I came to the wire fence overgrown with brambles, the ice was so dazzling I didn’t notice the large heffers and their furry brown heads staring back at me from just a few inches away! They had all gathered in a narrow strip of melted grass, warm, and free of ice, just a few feet off the black road..