While the snow we have had for several weeks was somewhat dry for snowman building, Kevin the ornamental goose has been dressed as a snowman (or should I say snow goose) with “coal” buttons, a black top hat and a beautiful blue hand-knitted scarf. She seems to have lost her hat in the snow recently; perhaps it will reappear by spring as the snow piles melt. Kevin has a friend nearby: a gnome whose handsome hat seems to be created by the same knitter, sitting on a ledge up against the house. It is a cheerful sight in winter to see them as you walk or drive through Lynnhurst.
The most interesting seasonal changes as you walk through town this week may be the phases of water; over the course of a day or two you can frequently see, and sometimes even hear, water changing from liquid to solid and vice versa as temperatures go up and down near the freezing mark. Often on a sunny day if you stop and listen you can hear dripping as ice and snow melts. The icicles I photographed a few weeks ago are somewhat smaller as daytime temperatures rise above freezing.
Some icicles on the southwest corner of my roof fell onto the ledge below and are now pointing up at crazy angles like spikes. On the northeast side, the icicles are shorter now and their shape and texture have changed; instead of being ribbed on the sides they are smooth but very slightly wavy, and you can see bubbles and a few cracks where the freezing and thawing has formed them into new patterns. On this side they are warmed a bit by the morning sun, but by the time the day has reached its highest temperatures they are back in the shade, and any dripping water has refrozen. The southwest facing icicles in the photo above are the ones that get afternoon light, and frequently at midday they cast shadows on the siding and may be for a short while also reflected in the windows…