Spring Ice

I know it's not spring yet, but the ice formations I encountered along my walk to school this morning seem to be the kind that could only occur when a sunny-warm-soggy-muddy day precedes a below-freezing night--and that feels a little springy to me.

This footprint for instance...

Yesterday afternoon--while the sun was shining and it was warm enough to walk around without a hat--some unlucky soul slogged through a muddy patch of grass on his way to firmer ground. Maybe he cursed under his breath upon realizing the extent of the mess accumulating on his shoes. Behind him, each footprint filled with water seeping up out of the over-saturated earth. Hours later--if one listened closely enough--the stillness of the frigid night was intruded upon by faint crackling as frost crystals began to grow from the pool of water still present in the footprint.

Here is a further sampling of some of the frosty formations I found this morning. The sun has been up and gleaming for a few hours now, so I bet most of these pieces have long since melted back into mud and sogg...

Though I'm certainly looking forward to warm summer days, I have to admit I'll also be missing all this amazing ice.

Happy March!