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Transitions Two |
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| | | | Around Ananda | |
January 14, 2005
The frozen ground could not absorb this week's thaw and rain so the river and stream
rose fast, spreading out beyond their banks into the floodplain forest, across the paths and
into the pond. Then the temperature dropped suddenly into single digits. The waters
crested, paused a moment, turned and began to recede. Even this brief pause was long
enough in the intense cold to leave a frozen layer where it had been. Now the paths crack
beneath your feet and you drop though the half-inch to inch-thick ice down to a lower
level, fissures shoot off from your footsteps in loud report. You shatter your way along
these thin sections. Where the ice is thicker, your footsteps do not break through but
you can feel large ice-plates sink and settle beneath you.
The deer have moved closer to us on higher ground. They will not near this loud, sharp
and unpredictable phenomenon. The pond sinks beneath the ice and its new edges
collapse. There is an ice-ring around the trees that marks the high-water level, some
places the ice has already settled a foot below this ring. Dark spots under the ice show
where water still drains beneath, finding its way out of the forest which crackles as it
settles but most places have gone solid until sun rays or warm temperatures come to
move the water to whatever new form it is to take.
Where the stream runs swift and deep the water receded before it could form frozen
sheets. Here the sides are ringed with unusual icicles that captivate light and your
imagination. Where the waters were trapped in eddies along the edge, it froze like that,
in swirling patterns. All around the country, people are talking of the dramatic weather
and wondering what is going on. We have become so absorbed in our own creations we
forget who taught us about drama, transformation and infinite possibility.
Enjoy, Susan
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