Every winter my bathroom window provides some wonderful ice art. Although other windows in this house face the same direction, this is the only one that puts on a show. Some mornings – even very cold ones – there is nothing there at all, yet other times some interesting creations develop, which always piques my imagination. They can only be viewed around sunrise, which causes them to be backlit and glowing. Once the bathroom steams up from a shower, or the sun rises enough to lend heat to the glass, they disappear.

Over the last few years I have occasionally taken photos of them with my not-so-great cell phone camera, which does not lend to precision. Each is a unique work of abstract art. I can’t help but name them, and many have corresponding songs to go with the names.

Yesterday these little wispy forms seemed to be hovering and landing in the trees, returning after a night out. I call it “The Fairies Come Home.”

This morning I woke up to this ice picture, which I call “Embryonic Journey”. You can cue up the Jefferson Airplane song by the same name for one of today’s earworms.

Here is one from last March called “Fire on the Mountain” (cue up the Grateful Dead) –

That corner of the window tends to make a lot of mountain ice art – this one is “Crystal Mountain.” I like the way the ice trees in the front are superimposed on the bare trees in the background.

At times I have shared my photos on social media. I called this one “The Runaways.” One friend saw sea creatures. Another commented that they look like “radioactive spiders preparing to attack the sacred palms,” which I found appealing enough to almost change the name. I see escapees of some sort, a couple running away together. (“I Think We’re Alone Now” by Tommy James and the Shondells runs through my mind).

Running just as fast as we can
Holding on to one another’s hand
Trying to get away into the night

Last February we experienced an ice storm that encased everything in glass. The camera was unable to pick up the details, but the world was awash in rainbows. The window that greeted me that morning I named “The Sparkling Valley.”

These birds rising for take off have become “Ice Flock.”

This one recalled a song I heard when I was a kid that I had to look up. The chorus was “Lightning is striking again and again and again and again” (“Lightnin’ Strikes” by Lou Christie):

Sometimes the picture takes up the entire frame, like here in “Controlled Chaos.”

Other times only random, sparse designs occur. This one is “Growth.”

The first one that had caused me to go running for the camera is still my favorite though. I just called it “Ice Feathers” at the time, because that is what they are, although so many different images can be conjured up. There is a lot of drama, mood and internal roiling going on in this shot. It probably deserves a more interesting name. I’ll have to think on that.

As the bathroom window continues to provide these winter gifts, I am considering compiling and printing them into a little volume, but I wanted to share their abstract beauty here with you as well. What do you see?

~*~

• “Embryonic Journey” by Jorma Kaukonen, The Jefferson Airplane – Surrealistic Pillow 1967
• “Fire on the Mountain” lyrics by Robert Hunter, Grateful Dead, Shakedown Street 1978
• “I Think We’re Alone Now” by Richie Cordell for Tommy James and the Shondells 1967
• “Lightnin’ Strikes” by Lou Christie and Twyla Herbert 1966