We might have reached the final crescendo of winter cold. Maybe? This might be it for mornings starting out at -25c. How beautiful they can be, though. The clarity of the cold. And a stage set for…ducks. Those goldeneye ducks will push up against the northern iciness as long as there is open water. Surely there are more hospitable places to spend the winter but every year it seems as though there are just a few more of these birds that can’t resist this beautiful river.
The thermometre is rising now. We are destined to feel temperatures above zero in the next few days. It will be especially sweet this year.
Part of me, though, already misses this frosted landscape.
[photographs from yesterday morning]
© Karen McRae, 2015
draw and shoot 
I do love the winter and its beautiful wrappings. You captured it wonderfully, Karen…so very nice.
Hi Scott, one of my favourite seasons, along with all the other ones… : ) I do love the winter landscape, too. Thanks leaving some lovely vwords here.
Such crispness and clarity against a mysterious fog in that second one. Sigh. Simply magic.
Looking forward to seeing you find the stark beauty in that gory, sloppy time between the snow and the flowers…
That lovely fog is water vapour rising off the river – that’s how cold the air was! It makes for some beautiful tones of blue. It’s hard to tell but there is a fog ‘backdrop’ behind the trees and shrubs in each picture, it’s a sliver of an island long and thin…
Photographing the between seasons is a challenge! We almost hit above freezing today so it’s coming. Thanks, Jen. xx
These are marvelous, Karen. I’m completely in love with the first image, in particular.
Thank you, Elena. : )
It was so beautiful I was glad I didn’t miss this light and fog.
I love your photographs and I love your river. I have seen the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea but I still love the rivers. They change so much over the years. Islands come, and islands go, the brush changes and the little animals hide here and there. Thanks for taking us to your river Karen.
Yes, the rivers pump life through the land, don’t they. I feel very fortunate to live in close proximity to this one. It’s beautiful in every season. Well, and the oceans, they are utterly beguiling too. Thanks for your thoughts, Wally.
Very beautiful.
It’s got a bit of magic, this place… Thank you, Rabirius.
Absolutely beautiful photography!!
Very appealing scenes.
I remember the cold from when I was in Finland – eyelashes sticking together, knees seizing up, mucus in my mouth thickening. I recall that native Finns have more brown fat that acts like a little furnace to keep them warm. What do Canadians have? I wonder whether the genes alter in a few generations.
Bright white in the sunlight; fine set. Nr3 is wonderful.
Extremely clean frozen landscape. —- still having open water?
It was a nice contrast. Well captured Karen.
Such gorgeous shots, Karen, though I do admit, I am much happier with our warmer temps and sunshine! Just got in from a nice long walk with the pup, who had to investigate the daffodil and tulip shoots in the garden. Hope you have a beautiful and warmer weekend! K
The lovely winter!
Beautiful as these landscapes and photos are, eternal winter is not something to wish for. 🙂
It’s so beautiful and really does look like a stage set (for a Robert Wilson opera in places). I hope for your sake the temperature starts to rise soon, though.
ooo i love these crisp blue and whites. snow queen
An absolutely beautiful serie!!
So calm and peaceful, and meditative. Don’t worry Karen — there’s always next year for these landscapes 😉
You are making me nostalgic for a winter I have found myself waiting to pass. This one will be discussed and dissected for years. I only wish climate change wasn’t the cause.
Glorious captures of winter, Karen – we love it!
Oh, but you’ll have your amazing paintings to remember it!!!! 😉
I love your “warm” vision of this season.
Grace and transcendence, that’s what this brings to mind. (And also, the certain realization that duck down is a truly great insulator!)
Exquisite winter landscapes and thoughts about the season, Karen. You’d be proud of me, I experienced 13 degrees on the east coast while traveling this week and survived 😉. Always uplifted when I receive your posts.
If even a part of you misses this frosted landscape, then it is certainly the place for you…
It’ s coming! The birds are singing up a storm! (Lovely last pix of another challenging winter–thx for sharing!)
Gosh you have had a lot of snow! I live near the coast so we never get good snow round here 😦 Lovely photos as well 🙂
Hi Karen! Luckily we usually manage to avoid these very low temperatures here in the southern UK – but we do have Goldeneye around – you’re talking to an ex-birder here! I especially like the 3rd picture down, its almost like a still life paonting; and I wonder what it would be like in black and white, although the very little colour that it has now might be integral to it. Adrian
Hi Karen, lovely images… Gorgeous!! There’s no snow left here…
Frosty beautifulness, wonderful images! We’re in meltdown mode here a bit early so it’s nice to see some wintery photos to help with the transition. Or maybe it will just mix me up! Either way, beautiful photos!
So beautiful Karen, that sense of utter stillness, and the wonderful clear blue light. I can understand why you feel nostalgic for this beauty as it moves on – but then comes spring with its exuberant beauty.
It’s such a beautiful landscape! But the Spring will bring more photographic delights I’m sure!
Having recently experienced some extreme winter conditions in Iceland Karen, I now realise how very hard your winter must be but it is oh, so beautiful! These shots are just glorious. We didn’t get so much sunshine, a lot of snow instead but when the sun came out, it was just breathtakingly beautiful!
You’re heading for summer, and I’m (very happily) heading for winter.
3rd image is like a Japanese woodcut. Doesn’t look like a woodcut but it has all that motion of the land like sea. A beauty, all of them.