Frozen Pond

The last few nights have been cold enough to freeze the pond solid.

Ice started collecting around the reeds and rushes along the shore. Every night frost encircled the dull greenery. But as the sheet grew, the same plants that attracted the ice also conducted the daytime sun, melting only circles along the shore. The orbs and crescents froze hard each night and melted each day while a thin layer covered the entire body. The fluctuation surrounding the vegetation created frosty patterns that adorned the perimeter.

I studied the crystalline lace. With a careful step, I tested the ice. Under my weight it creaked like an old wooden floor. Then it cracked. My dog walked upon the water, licking, searching for a drink.

I found a rock that I planned to break the ice with, but when I picked it up I found that icicles hung from the underside, like pillars which were lifting the rock off the ground. Mesmerized, I took the rock back to the house, so my son could share in a fragment of the frigid magic. I took pictures of it with my insufficient camera. The pictures refuse to show the delicate detail, the thin transparent threads. But I saw it, and my son saw it, so the enchantment will shimmer onward.