Sunday, 3 December 2017

16 Pics That Prove Winter Really Is A Wonderland

Winter isn't the worst.

Okay, well it's kind of the worst. But there's still some enjoyment to be had from the season. The cold is bracing, the snow is pretty, and it's the season where Mother Nature likes to get especially weird.

1. Like surrealist art.

It looks like icy lily pads, but what you're seeing here is what happens when methane bubbles up from the bottom of a lake but becomes trapped in ice before it reaches the surface.

2. Extra-large ice cubes.

The clarity of these bluish chunks of ice makes me want to chip some off and put it in a drink. Like, it actually looks seriously refreshing.

3. The miniature forest.

Ice crystals are crazy. When you consider that every snowflake and every square inch of snow looks something like this when you view it close up, it's pretty mind-boggling.

4. They've arrived.

I don't know why so many crows have gathered on this tree. But it's probably best to just appreciate the wintry view and not interrupt whatever crow ritual is going on.

5. Cold + wind = this.

All sorts of crazy stuff can happen with the ice that forms on bodies of water. Wind can fracture the ice, causing the shards to layer like this.

6. Tip of the iceberg.

Seeing the enormous, bulbous base of the iceberg, along with knowing what happened to Leo in Titantic, is enough to make me never want to leave land again.

7. WHAT.

I thought I'd seen everything winter had to offer. Then I saw this insane ice cave in Austria. Now I'm searching for ice caves within a 50-mile radius on Google Maps.

8. Fire and ice.

The way the sunset reflects off this ice is stunning. I don't know the scientific names for these ice formations, so I'll call them the flat kind and the hangy-down kind.

9. Crystal clear.

Here's some more stunningly clear ice at sunset. Must be nice. All of the ice around where I live looks like it's full of car exhaust and potting soil (or worse).

10. Nope.

So you're walking along on a gorgeous wintry day. The cold is refreshing. The snow is new. The silence is absolute. The trees are...full of mountain lions apparently. Time to go back inside.

11. What kind of tree is that?

We probably won't know until spring at the earliest, as the ice and snow has decided to do some weird, weird stuff with its branches.

12. Just don't fall off.

I'd love to experience an ice cave like this, but the risk of falling off the paddle board into the icy cold water would definitely stop me.

13. Ice boulders as far as the eye can see.

Again, I don't have the scientific explanation, but this is just another way that bodies of water can mold and shape snow and ice in incredible ways.

14. A turquoise wonderland.

These big blocks of ice, sheathed in soft snow, are a real show-stopper. When the sun catches them just right, they look like massive blue-green crystals, glowing with unseen energy.

15. If you want to do winter right, go to Norway.

Seriously. Midnight sun, mountains, crystal-clear water and scenes like this? I think it's time to start looking into cheap flights to Oslo.

16. But then again, Wisconsin's not bad.

The Upper Midwest gets long winters. Factor in the fir trees, glacial moraines, kettle lakes and views like this, and Wisconsin starts to look pretty appealing.