Recently, we experienced heavy rain followed shortly thereafter by a deep freeze. The ditches alongside our highway, which had been filled to the brim with water, quickly froze over.
As the temperatures warmed and the water receded, a frozen layer of ice remained at the high-water mark, clinging tightly to one side of the ditch while extending out over the lowering water level. For a time, the unsupported ice hung there frozen. Eventually it either cracked and collapsed under its own weight or slowly melted and joined the flowing water beneath it.
Seeing the ice suspended over the ditch made me think of the changes we face in life. We often grow accustomed to the way things are or to the way they have seemingly always been. As time inevitably moves forward and change comes, we can choose to remain frozen and unyielding, resisting new ideas and growth.
However, we can also choose to adapt, embracing the opportunity to move forward. Time never stands still, but change isn’t always a bad thing. It’s possible to cherish and honor the old while embracing the new.
Unfortunately, I failed to get photos of the ice on our busy highway. However, I noticed that a similar thing also occurred at the lake. As the water level dropped, it pulled away from the ice formations and left them suspended above it. Here are a few of those photos.
“The secret of change is to focus all your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” ~Socrates
“Change with the seasons of life. Don’t try to stretch a season into a lifetime.” ~Unknown
“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.” ~Alan Watts
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.” 2 Corinthians 4:16
walking on a country road 
Great post! Your message & quotes resonated with me. I find as I get older, I struggle with change, but “the only constant in life is change.” A book that is helpful with this impermanence concept is Wabi Sabi by Beth Kempton. Thank you!
Thanks so much, Karen!
Beautiful as usual. The snow almost resembles the white egret.
Thanks, Kathy! Yes, it does. 🙂
Insightful and profound Rebecca.
Nature is nature whether we see it or not.
Thanks, Wayne. Nature teaches us a lot.
“IF” the person listens?
What an interesting phenomenon – that brutal cold across the U.S. from the Siberian Polar Vortex was really something and it’s amazing to have this ice clinging on like that. Nature provides us wonderment every time we turn around – we just need to find it. I like your ponderings and the quotes that accompany this post Rebecca. The times they are a’changin’ and it’s difficult to grasp that concept; I know it is for me anyway.
Thanks, Linda! Yes, a combination of flooding and then the extreme cold led to an interesting display by nature. It made an impression. I think the older you get, the harder you have to work at accepting change.
I think we’ll see lots of new things in nature we never saw before with our everchanging climate. I agree with you and I know that I need to learn to be much more adaptable than I am now.
Something that I’m learning as well.
GREAT POST and very pretty pictures ❤
Thank you! 🙂
Great captured 👏 well shared
Thanks, Priti.
🙏