DEEP FREEZE time

Nothing like starting the new year where 2/3 of the country is in a deep freeze. Gosh, in Florida, you don't need to refrigerate the orange juice. Just pull those succulent balls of Vitamin C right off the tree and you're good to go!

Once we hit mid December, it's usually time to pull out the 700 goose down coat for walking the dogs. It's day-glow, hunter orange and believe it or not, the dogs have matching colors! Yeah, go ahead and laugh. I do every time we stroll out the front door. But in these days of darkness, we're seen by oncoming traffic. "Look Mildred, it's a wayward, northwoods deer hunter, right here on the East Side of Milwaukee! Must be lost." It's purely a defensive move on my part, as we've almost been taken out on the corner of Lake and Bradford by all those folks hell bent to get to work at Columbia-St. Mary's hospital.

As the deep freeze rolls into most of the country, I thought you'd appreciate a view of Lake Michigan made a couple of winters ago. I had been inspired by another local photographer, who kept making images of the old pylons along Northpoint, on Lake Michigan. In mid-January, when the below zero nights are common, I had a fellow photographer visiting from Pennsylvania. I encouraged her to rise early with me, before the dawn, and go down and photograph the pylons with steam rising from the Lake.

She rose but only endured about 10' in the -4 degree weather with a -20 wind chill. As for me, I was dressed in the aforementioned coat, snug as a polar bear. It was a BEAUTIFUL morning! As the daylight brightened, my hands said 'enough." There's nothing like that searing, throbbing pain of cold fingers, slowly rewarming, to start your day!

Ice Sculptures on Lake Michigan

Yesterday was the kind of day I'd been waiting for!  We'd had some cold nights that allowed things to freeze things up solid and then we were blessed with a clear, sunny day.  I loaded up my new Kata pack & tripod and headed out on the ice along the Lakefront.  Ever aware of the possibility of breaking through the ice, I picked my way out in a circuitous fashion, staying along ice ridge lines and testing the ice with my tripod.

I got a few images I had scouted out which were fairly close to edges, and then slowly walked around looking for other possibilities.  Then I broke through - slightly - just enough to cover the top of my boot.  And this was away from the edges.  Time to get out!  Stay aware and follow my tracks back to the shore.

Next destination - Big Bay Park in Whitefish Bay.  In January I had stopped to scout this location while doing an errand but I didn't have my camera then.  It was an awesome scene with lots of ice that spread far into Lake Michigan.  I made a mental note to return on another sunny day after a cold spell.

The ice was well formed but on this day, the slow waves were rolling in slushy ice.  As I photographed I was surrounded by that great "white noise" of the waves coming in.  You know, the kind that brings immediate relaxation to one's senses!  That's all I heard as I made a few different compositions and watched the sun move a little lower in the sky.  Besides one runner doing a hill workout, it was just me, the ice and the waves.