Ice Meets Sky

The brief thaw stripped most of this stretch of river of its snow cover. 

Bare grey ice mirrors

a low stratus streaked sky,

heavy, rain-bearing.

Not Spring Yet

Yesterday's spring words

were proven to be too soon.

Ice took hold again.

Reflecting Arc

The main channel, going from left to right, asserted itself today, while still flowing over a bed of ice.

An arc of water

reflecting for the first time

this spring's trees and sky.

Water Over Ice

With temperatures 

nearing fifty, water flowed 

on top of the ice.

Rock and Color

I spent time yesterday in the map library of the Clark University Geography Department.  Looking at an enormous and colorful map of the details regarding what kind of rock lies where in Vermont, I honed in on the site of the Middle Bridge. 

I graduated from Clark in 1970, and in my freshman year took a geology course to satisfy the Science distribution requirement.  I came away with a rudimentary knowledge of rocks, and a great admiration for geological maps, color coded for the specific type of igneous, sedimentary or metamorphic stone serving as bedrock for a particular location.  Just as the swirl of a river inspires comparisons to abstract art, so do these beautiful maps.

River Captured

I was in a coffee shop today in Amherst, Massachusetts, and was struck by this painting, which captures the dynamism of a river. 

For more on Australian Aboriginal Dot Painting, see

 http://www.aboriginalartstore.com.au/aboriginal-art-culture/aboriginal-art/aboriginal-dot-paintings/

Snowmobile Turnaround

You can still just make out the snowmobile tracks on the river from some days back.  Talking with some long-time residents, I heard that making a snowmobile trek from Bridgewater down through Woodstock was often the subject of a bet.  One informant said, with a certain nonchalance, that maybe he had done it once or twice.  He went on to say the scenery was great, and the water beneath the ice never very deep.  He noted that just before the Taftsville dam, miles downriver from the village, the tracks of a snowmobile doing a U-turn could be seen.  On my way out of town this afternoon, he caught a glimpse of that myself.

With warmer temperatures today, a new lead opened up just upstream of the bridge.  Snowmobile season may be over.