Wonder of the Week: more Ice Art

December often is a month of deadlines, and so it is this year -- two final project reports and a paper are due.  In the absence of time for anything more, here's another collection of photos of Jack Frost’s enchanting artwork.

I “discovered” the beauty of ice up close last year, when frigid arctic air moved in and provided Jack with great conditions for his masterpieces.  We’ve had nothing like that so far this winter.  The first ice on the river I posted about a few weeks ago has melted, and recently we’ve had daytime temperatures in the 40s and 50s (F) -- hardly a Laramie winter.

But it still freezes at night, and if we’re lucky and keep an eye out, we find Jack has been hard at work after all.

Angular patterns on the surface, and little ice mounds/blobs just below.  Field of view is less than 2 inches. 

As always, there is even more beauty to behold by zooming in once the photos are downloaded (click on photos for better views).

We found Jack’s creations in a stock tank during a recent "winter" hike in the Laramie Mountains.

All ice art courtesy Jack Frost.

From Central Park in Winter by Thomas Nast, 1864.