Ice Ribbons at the Cabin

Ice Ribbon
Originally uploaded by jwwl.

Like last year, Uncle Richie and Aunt Suze stopped by on their way back home from their yearly Thanksgiving road trip to Texas. And also like last year, we made our way up to the cabin for a 2 night stay. On Friday, after work, I picked up Miri, Uncle Richie and Aunt Suze and piloted the loaded down car north into the Ozarks. We made it up there in a reasonable amount of time, considering the late start, and pulled up to the cabin after dark at 9ish in the evening. I got straight to waking up the cabin by unlocking the front door, getting the water turned on underneath the cabin, making sure all the curcuit breakers were turned on, emptying the ash tray from the wood stove and get a fire going. Then I joined the rest of the group in getting the car unloaded and sleeping areas prepared. We then quickly went right into the bedtime routine and had Miri down for the night. Uncle Richie, Aunt Suze and I then enjoyed some conversation while maintaining the fire and warming up the place. We remembered that last year it dropped down to 26f at night, and we already had that beaten with 22F showing on the thermometer. It was going to be a fun cozy night. :)

In the morning Miri snuggled with me upstairs for a little while before we got up, dressed, and headed downstairs. We found Uncle Richie awake and and Aunt Suze still half snoozing in the warm bed. We decided to have a look ouside in the morning sun so Miri then bravely cracked open the door on a cool brisk morning...



It was a beautiful bright morning with a touch of frost on the ground!



With coffee in hand we wondered around the grounds and the porch enjoying the cold fresh air and the sights and sounds of being far away from any city.



At some point we finally made our way back in to the cabin to stir the lone straggler from her warm den and then settled down around the table for some breakfast.



With the energy from our breakfast in our bellies we decided to have a little fun collecting firewood and kindling. There was actually plenty of firewood in a pile already, so this was just something to do. I had came across a small hand saw and Uncle Richie used it to take care of a fallen tree.



Miri also jumped in on the action and caried plenty of logs to the cabin.





For lunch we made our way into Mountain View to eat at the wing Shack, grab a few supplies at walmart, and brows the various stores on the town square that sell stuff...



Then we headed back to the cabin to enjoy the rest of the day there. We wandered on down to the creek to poke around (one of our favourite things to do there).



Threw many rocks in the water. :)



And made all kinds of discoveries, such as this turtle shell:



The biggest discovery of all was what we initially mistook as littered plastic all over the place. At some point Uncle Richie came to realize that it was ice! There were these fancy ribbons of ice all over the place. They were quite beautiful!







Later, when I got back to Little Rock, I did a little research to find out more. Turns out these Ice Ribbons (or Frost Flowers) grow out of the stems of just a handful of plants under the right conditions. I found this professor's website on Ice Ribbons and emailed him my pictures. I also found this timelapse video of a frost flower growing on YouTube.

Miri also gave a slightly more destructive introduction to Ice Ribbons on video for us too.



She liked making snow and may have also had visions of a snow cone in her head. :)

After our time at the creek we then headed back to the cabin to get an evening fire going and enjoy a Turkey Tetrazini dinner prepaired by Uncle Richie and Aunt Suze. Uncle Richie also entertained us with some music from a xylophone he buit out of kindling. :)



All in all, it was another great trip to the cabin and another great visit with Uncle Richie and Aunt Suze. I wish it wouldn't be a whole nother year until we see them again, but that last year went by so quickly anyway. Can't wait 'till next time!