Cold snap

Last week the seriously cold weather we endured for over a week finally snapped. It was pretty cold for Oregon standards, and we barely reached highs above the freezing level each day. The kids took gloves, coats, and hats to school, and I even had a hard time keeping the house warm with a raging fire every day. No precipitation came with the cold air, so we didn't have snow but a lot of ice formed on familiar areas of our world, which was very beautiful.

The kids thought it was the coolest thing ever that the pond by the library was nearly frozen over. The ducks may have had other thoughts about it. They were hunkered down and just enduring the ice, I think.


This is nearby Eagle Creek. It's a swift moving, shallow creek that is fun to explore in the summertime. I have never seen it so frozen. It was beautiful.



My favorite ice creations are the giant icicles and ice falls that form on the rocks and cliffs in the countryside. They are simply amazing. You don't realize how much water flows out of the ground and over the rocks until it is forced to stay in place for a while.