I couldn't remember the year, but the image of the Bay completely frozen over has been etched in my memory since childhood. I was living in Bay Ridge less than a block from the beach. It seemed like one day the Bay was ice free, and the next completely frozen. I'm sure it didn't actually happen overnight, but that's how I remember it. The year (thanks to a quick Google search) was 1977 and I was not quite 3. Here's a link to great article about that big freeze.
This season marks the sixth year, and sixth winter, my wife and I have lived on Ramsay Lake. The lake has frozen at least once in all but one of those winters. Sitting at home this past Saturday, enjoying the snow, I witnessed for the first time how that happens. What amazed me was how quickly it happened, over the course of only several hours. The shoreline froze first. Then, a thin layer of ice formed in the middle, distinct in it's glass-like appearance surrounded by the rippled open water between it and the frozen shoreline. The light northwest wind then pushed the growing ice patch to the southeast shore, and in another hour or so, the complete lake was frozen. Next time, with a little luck, I can capture it all with some time lapse photography.
No comments:
Post a Comment