reflections
Reflections in nature, reflections in thought...
As I look back over the past month I see a quiet existence and I see a lot of snow. My wandering with a camera has been focused more on indoor spaces, and my (almost) daily outside walking has been limited at times by the conditions under my feet.
It remains cold, and we've made it through two predicted snowfalls that were less then expected, almost minimal. It seems that the snow depth is less. I thought that was my imagination until I read David Epstein's article When Will We See Bare Ground And Have We Really Had 100 Inches Of Snow? earlier this week. He presented sublimation as part of the reason for the shrinking snow depth.
I hope that as we move closer to spring that new snow comes less often and with less depth. I look forward to more comfortable walking outside, walking without the worry of ice underfoot.
"You might not realize it but snow, which is a solid, can change phases and become a gas, or disappear without ever becoming a liquid. The process, called sublimation, occurs when any solid object goes directly into a gas. Things like mothballs and dry ice can also sublimate over time. The ice cubes in your freezer sublimate, this is why they shrink in the tray. The snow on the ground is sublimating and therefore the depth is decreasing."
quote courtesy of David Epstein's article in the Boston Globe
Now it's time to think about changing seasons, about wanders close to home and far away.
at Parker River National Wildlife Refuge
