<p><img id="image665" alt="Icy beads form on the trees" src="https://www.mitzenmacher.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2006/12/DSCN5255.jpg" /></p>
<p>The storm system that recently passed through this area dropped about 5 inches of rainfall before the coldÂ Canadian air mass dropped down from the north, bringing with it sub-freezing temperatures and a paltry 1&#8243; of snow.Â  However, the interplay of the moisture and temperature caused icy crystals and frozen water droplets to form on trees and grasses around the ranch.</p>
<p><img id="image666" alt="Sunshine and ice create sparkling glow" src="https://www.mitzenmacher.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2006/12/DSCN5265.jpg" /></p>
<p>Sensing a golden photo opportunity was at hand, I grabbed the camera and headed outside to take a walk in the frigid morning hours.Â  For aboutÂ a one hour duration, the sun and the ice conspired to bring a surreal, almost magical quality to the scenery surrounding me.</p>
<p><img id="image667" alt="Ralph's pasture bathed in ice crystals" src="https://www.mitzenmacher.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2006/12/DSCN5296.jpg" /></p>
<p>Heading along one of the main pathways on the property, I came to the area we call Ralph&#8217;s pasture (due to cousin Ralph&#8217;s fondness for this scenic locale), and hiked along it&#8217;s trails to shoot some pictures.</p>
<p><img id="image668" alt="All the trees are shimmering" src="https://www.mitzenmacher.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2006/12/DSCN5309.jpg" /></p>
<p>The trees were all covered with frozen water droplets, which shimmered in the sunlight.Â  The frozen water on the stems would crack and shatter in the soft breeze, creating a lovely high-pitched noise (not unlike a crystal wind chime) that only added to the allure of this magical morning.</p>
<p><img id="image669" alt="More icy tree limbs and grass glow in the sunshine" src="https://www.mitzenmacher.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2006/12/DSCN5316.jpg" /></p>
<p>Even theÂ fescue grass in this clearing, which I have left un-cut for the benefit of the wildlife this winter, harbored it&#8217;s share of icy beauty, shimmering and singing out it&#8217;s melody as it swayed in the gentle breeze.</p>
<p>The fall color change ended a month ago, but the picturesque beauty of the area remains, only this time it takes on a different appearance.</p>

<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54494/367/AE2CC0E3D382A57BB57424B22F0E1A7A.png" style="border: 0 !important; background: transparent;"/></a><p><img id="image665" alt="Icy beads form on the trees" src="https://www.mitzenmacher.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2006/12/DSCN5255.jpg" /></p>
<p>The storm system that recently passed through this area dropped about 5 inches of rainfall before the coldÂ Canadian air mass dropped down from the north, bringing with it sub-freezing temperatures and a paltry 1&#8243; of snow.Â  However, the interplay of the moisture and temperature caused icy crystals and frozen water droplets to form on trees and grasses around the ranch.</p>
<p><img id="image666" alt="Sunshine and ice create sparkling glow" src="https://www.mitzenmacher.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2006/12/DSCN5265.jpg" /></p>
<p>Sensing a golden photo opportunity was at hand, I grabbed the camera and headed outside to take a walk in the frigid morning hours.Â  For aboutÂ a one hour duration, the sun and the ice conspired to bring a surreal, almost magical quality to the scenery surrounding me.</p>
<p><img id="image667" alt="Ralph's pasture bathed in ice crystals" src="https://www.mitzenmacher.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2006/12/DSCN5296.jpg" /></p>
<p>Heading along one of the main pathways on the property, I came to the area we call Ralph&#8217;s pasture (due to cousin Ralph&#8217;s fondness for this scenic locale), and hiked along it&#8217;s trails to shoot some pictures.</p>
<p><img id="image668" alt="All the trees are shimmering" src="https://www.mitzenmacher.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2006/12/DSCN5309.jpg" /></p>
<p>The trees were all covered with frozen water droplets, which shimmered in the sunlight.Â  The frozen water on the stems would crack and shatter in the soft breeze, creating a lovely high-pitched noise (not unlike a crystal wind chime) that only added to the allure of this magical morning.</p>
<p><img id="image669" alt="More icy tree limbs and grass glow in the sunshine" src="https://www.mitzenmacher.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2006/12/DSCN5316.jpg" /></p>
<p>Even theÂ fescue grass in this clearing, which I have left un-cut for the benefit of the wildlife this winter, harbored it&#8217;s share of icy beauty, shimmering and singing out it&#8217;s melody as it swayed in the gentle breeze.</p>
<p>The fall color change ended a month ago, but the picturesque beauty of the area remains, only this time it takes on a different appearance.</p>

<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54494/367/AE2CC0E3D382A57BB57424B22F0E1A7A.png" style="border: 0 !important; background: transparent;"/></a>{"id":670,"date":"2006-12-04T17:17:12","date_gmt":"2006-12-04T22:17:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mitzenmacher.net\/blog\/?p=670"},"modified":"2006-12-04T17:17:12","modified_gmt":"2006-12-04T22:17:12","slug":"omen-of-the-coming-winter-in-the-ozarks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mitzenmacher.net\/blog\/?p=670","title":{"rendered":"Omen of the Coming Winter in the Ozarks"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ranchers-ramblins"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8xyVp-aO","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mitzenmacher.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mitzenmacher.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mitzenmacher.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mitzenmacher.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mitzenmacher.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=670"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.mitzenmacher.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mitzenmacher.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mitzenmacher.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mitzenmacher.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}