Inspiration struck! Helped by a subtle suggestion by a fellow Hivian and the blizzard that just hit the northern part of NY state. The situation up there was / is really bad. While the people living up there are kind of used to snow and cold winters, this one apparently was the worst blizzard in 50 years! So, on the one hand, I am feeling a little bad that I am sharing these pictures now but on the other hand - here goes...
These photos are for #WednesdayWalk with 
In the background, you can see the trees in our driveway covered in ice.
That called for an investigation!
Very cautiously I stepped outside, careful to not use our stairs and porch but rather the garage door as everything was covered in thick ice. It was early so even the sidewalk was still icy and I'm happy that I didn't slip and fall.
Here are some close-ups from our poor plants around the houses. All covered in very thick ice. It looked very beautiful but somehow also surreal. Imagine those little berries, full of life one day and then - frozen over and still looking alive.
After that little venture outside and around the block I felt ready to brave the roads. Well, to be honest, it was a few hours later and by that time the roads were totally fine. As you can see we didn't get any snow, just ice.
I drove the five minutes to our local park where I like to go jogging in summer. Our river is dammed there and oftentimes it makes for wonderful reflection photos which I love as most of you might know.
And there were reflections but they weren't the reason I came for this time.
I wanted to see and capture more of the icy beauty on the trees!
And discovered a fairy land...
Just looking at the photos reminds me of how blindingly bright it was. Some of the pictures remind me of infrared photos but they aren't. It was just a beautiful, clear and sunny winter day and the sun reflected off of all that ice like crazy - I may or may not have worn my sunnies 😎.
But just look at it... scroll up (or down)
Of course, I couldn't resist taking a few more close-ups. That top right one, if you click on it you will see the veins in that red leaf - frozen in time. And again the different berries. That top photo on the left is cropped in because it reminds me of a bee or butterfly but it is just a couple of berries covered in ice.
Did I mention that I am a sucker for bokeh? If you haven't figured that out yet looking through the previous photos - here is one more. Also, isn't it weird how this bush has yellow and red berries all over at the same time?
In any case, bokeh - glistening off the icy trees in the background almost obscuring the icy, in-focus berries on the left.
Bokeh-licious (it may or may not be a word!)
And with that - stay warm, always, and have a great rest of your day!
Cheers,
(Ocean)Bee
Unless otherwise noted, copyright for all photos, dividers and gifs ©Oceanbee|ImagesByCW
