Block of Ice

Block of ice reflecting some sun as it floats down the river.

Ice Forming on Lake

How does water freeze on a lake?

Water becomes more dense when it gets down to 40 degrees. This causes that water to fall and warmer water that is less dense rises.

When the whole lake reaches 40 degrees the water on top then becomes colder and starts to freeze. The water at the shore is shallower and so this water will get colder faster and  that is why the lake freezes from the shore to the center.

The air is much colder than the ground. the cold air will bring the temperature of the water down.

Ice is lighter than water causing the ice to float on top of the water. That is why ice floats in a glass of water. If it was the other way around life in a lake for fish would not be possible.

Water below the ice allows fish to survive.

The uniqueness of water is one of the things in nature that points to a Creator God.

Ice Along Creek

I took some photos of the ice from our last storm. Looking forward to the storm coming Wednesday with more snow.

Psalm 147:17

 He casts forth His ice as fragments; Who can stand before His cold?

Ice after Snow

Ice on Red pine cones and needles.


The sun caused the ice to sparkle on this brush.


Interesting icicles.

Frost Heave

Here is dirt that shows frost heave. The water in the dirt freezes and causes the mud to rise as the water expands into ice. This ground was crunchy to walk on. But this is not the main reason for frost heave.

Water moves from warmer temperature to colder temperature. And the top of the soil will freeze first. So water will move up from below to the area that is freezing to cause more freezing near the top of the soil aggravating the effect of the frost heave. This causes the soil to be displaced even more. During thaw the soil drops back to its normal place. This soil action causes disruption in construction along the surface of the ground.

Frost creep is caused by the freezing and thawing of the soil that causes rocks etc to travel down hill.

Missouri has a large problem with this because we are in an area of the country that is swinging back and forth between the warming gulf temperature and frigid cold winds from Canada. I have seen it go from 60 degrees to 20 in a few hours and then back to the 50's the next day.

Ice Flow

I don't think of Missouri as having ice flows. But this rock outcropping shows that water will go down to bedrock and then run along the top of the rock. It freezes as it comes out of the ground.

The ice is not flowing but as the water comes out of the ground it freezes as it falls.

Missouri River ice

Today Saturday there is a thaw, so I wanted to get the Missouri river ice photo's I took Wednesday and Friday on this blog.



Here is a video showing the river full of ice. It is interesting to see where the main current is and where the slow water is.



Driftwood along the south shore of the Missouri river.


These ice patties are mainly slush. I suppose if it stayed cold for a long time they would become solid.


Psalm 46:4 "There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
The holy dwelling places of the Most High."

Missouri Natural Areas

photo taken 12/14/07 after ice storm.

Missouri Natural Area sign. These areas are designations of ecological important areas of Missouri. This system tries to manage and restore examples of nature throughout Missouri.

There are 168 areas consisting of more than 44,000 acres.


Ecclesiastes 7:12
"For wisdom is protection just as money is protection,
But the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the lives of its possessors."

Iced Red Cedar

May each of you have a blessed and Merry Christmas.

Mathew 1:23 "BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL," which translated means, "GOD WITH US."

Isaiah 7:14 "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel."

Isaiah 9:6,7 "For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace."

"There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,
On the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
From then on and forevermore
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this."

Blue Sky and Ice

The blue sky accents the iced trees.






Job 37:9
"Out of the south comes the storm, And out of the north the cold."

Sun After Ice Storm

There is only a short time you can see the beauty of an ice storm once the sun comes out. The rays of the sun will immediately start melting the ice off the trees. I went out today at lunch and took photos of these beautiful trees. .

Here are some of the shots I got today






Psalm 66:5 "Come and see the works of God,
Who is awesome in His deeds toward the sons of men."

Ice Storm

Ice storms are caused when warm air approaches an area cold enough to freeze. The rain falls on freezing cold ground, forming ice. We get these storm a lot around here sometimes losing tree limbs and electric power. Not a lot of damage happened today.









Psalm 147:17
"He casts forth His ice as fragments;Who can stand before His cold?"

Snow to Ice

Lingering snow presents a problem for walking. The longer snow hangs around here, the more it turns to ice.

Snow starts out as crystals in the upper atmosphere and gathers more from water vapor. When the snow hits the ground it quickly loses its shape and becomes granular. In northern Missouri we live in the ice zone. Temps get above freezing during the day, at times. This melts the snow and refreezes it at night. This process turns the soft power of snow to ice.

I enjoy snow when its fresh, but this ice is no fun. When I went walking in the woods today I had to get off the trail because it was covered in ice. Off trial was easy walking. The snow had melted or was not uniform because of the leaves and brush.

Life throws many things my way that causes me to be tired or discouraged. But a fresh infilling from God by reading the Bible or prayer will lift my spirits.

Thank you Jesus for your love and acceptance. Thank you for woods to walk in to clear my mind form problems and your Spirit to bring peace to my soul.

Ice Photos

Log of my hike Sunday 4-Feb-07

Snow makes the ground look matted moulted. The trail is mainly marked by dogs also sign of deer and turkey. Watching the squirrels going from branch to branch leaping to the next branch.

The rustling of the shingle oak leaves in the wind. The crunch in of my boots on the snow the pitter patter of my dog scampering back and forth in the woods.

A wave of wind rustles the shingle oak leaves then it dies down then it rustles the leaves again and then it dies down.

A stand of rough leaf dogwood 1” in dia. With the mixture of E red cedar. White snow covering the ground white and blue sky.

Gray liken growing on the bowl of a 7” E red cedar.

Gnarled black cherry with the bole splits in two about 3' feet off the ground.

To my right the ground falls into a draw to the left continuing rough leaf dogwood and a scattering of E red cedar.

As I walk the sun is breaking through a layer of clouds the opening snow fades away into grass it has melted off.

The trail I was on now connects with the main trail and I am now on that trail heading W.

The main trail again is then covered in snow and I take the side trial off to the right which is on the other side of the draw which I mentioned before where the black cherry was.

I am now coming across some rabbit tracks. To the NW I look to the sky which is blue with a spattering of high clouds.

I cut off the side trail into the woods which rolls north. Ground is mostly covered in snow the snow covers the fallen trees. It is a round ridge as I walk to the draws. I don't see any sigh of human activity there are no human foot prints.

I lean up against a hop hornbeam which is next to a large fallen tree it is a hard to say what kind of tree it was all the bark has fallen off, white oak is to the East and a large bur oak is to the west near the creek.

In this area there is a ½ to 1 inch of soft snow and under it there is 1 to 2 inches of crusted snow.

We now have come up to a place has come where the squirrels have dug into the snow looking for nuts. I have no idea how the squirrels know where to dig but my dog has a lot of fun checking them out.

As I come to the end of the ridge down at the creek there is a root wad stuck into the air, dirt is still stuck in the root wad the tree has been down for a long time. The tree has fallen into the creek and branches are broken off on the other side of the creek. What bark is left is covered by conk type growth. The creek is frozen but I can see water running under the ice.

4:39 PM looking back south the sun is still up in the air a ways so there will be more sunlight for a time now. The sun is shinning through the 1000 s of branches most of the trees are 3” or less. Looking up at the canopy there is room for trees to occupy. Most of the trees are small a few large. The little trees have not taken off to occupy the open canopy.

Instead of going back the way I came I decided to parallel the creek gong along the edge and I will turn up to the top of the ridge when I get to the other side.

My dog runs out on the ice of the creek by a 2 foot waterfall she tries to stop but just slides in the ice. But being on all fours is no problem for her. When she does stop she runs back to me.

Heading back up there are a lot of small gullies criss crossing the ground. The way I negotiate these is by grabbing a sapling or vine hold on as I jump over them. But I check to make sure they aren't dead before I apply weight.

My dog is really getting excited now running up the side of the hill and back to me. She loves to hike in the woods with me.

There is no E red cedars growing on the side of the hill they grow up on top.

I come to the trail where there is a set of foot prints and I stamp my foot next to it and compare footprints the treads match so its mine. And now I am following my trial back.

As I hike along that trail I come to the realization that my foot prints have stopped so I back track to where my foot prints end and I cut into the woods.

Now I come to the root wad where I first wanted to take a photo and I figured I could find my foot prints again and continue following my way out.

I pass a white oak which is leaning about 30 degrees. The whole tree is leaning and the bowl of the tree is not carrying any of the weight of the tree. I will measure the dia with my hand and I come up with 30 to 32 inch dia tree.

I see 2 turkeys fly into some trees it is 5:00 now so it must be time to bed down in the tree.

Flowing the main trial the south facing slope is clear of snow and the north facing slope has a lot of turkey tracks in the snow where the turkey went into the trees.

Ice on Missouri River

Ice is stacked up against a jetty in the Missouri river.

Pond & Ice

I took a photo of this pond today with the ice. Below is the same pond in the Fall on Thanksgiving.

Sun and Ice

Walking in the woods to find a good photo of glare at first I thought that there wasn't any ice on the trees. I was walking north and the sun was behind me.





When I turned around I saw the glare of the ice from the sun.


It is the same with our relationship with Christ. It is all in the way we look for Him. If we are looking away from His promises we may not see anything. If we are looking in the Bible for His promises we can see the glory of the Lord.

Look to Jesus for help. Those who believe in Him will not be disappointed. Romans 9:33