if yesterday’s gift of ice-enclosed reality wasn’t enough, when the sun rose with no clouds to cover it, our land shimmered.

the before-school chicken choring turned to ice exploring. i resisted getting my camera, chose to soak it all in with them. committed myself to seeing it without a plastic lens. but then our friend found something i didn’t know was possible:  a piece of grass sticking out the ground directly beneath the garage awning was all fat-worm like.

“that’s it kids, i’m getting my camera!”

micah kept the youngers off it and then the seeing through another lens began.

mama, a frozen acorn!
listen to this (ice falling off a kicked fence)!
no way!

the final moment before loading up my son for our daily just-the-two-of-us trip to school, he sent the basketball into the net.

and it stuck. his laughter was a day-changer.

and while i don’t tuck the film in a paper envelope and write my personal information on the provided lines or close myself in the dark room at the high school with the smells that can only come from there, i do have the few moments of taking out the memory card and connecting cord to computer to see what i thought i saw.

by the time preschool started, the cracking and dripping began.

with leg strong and nimble, we kicked our way through a 15 minute ice demolition celebration.

by the afternoon there was cracking and melting that mimicked a rain shower.

it’s like we know the earth is alive!  indeed we do.