The Frozen Pier

   As the sun was rising over the pines on the far side of the Bayou, it cast a lovely golden glow on the pier planks.  I was walking down the hill toward the pier when I first noticed the glimmer.  Strange.  The planks had never glowed before.  Stepping up on the ramp, I soon came to realize that the glow was the sun's ray glinting off of the heavy layer of frost that coated the boards.  Hmmm?  Was it safe to walk any further or would I slip and slide right off into the mud.  I decided to chance it.  Walking was not as hard as I expected as my feet were quite literally freezing to the pier.  If I stopped for longer than a few seconds, my shoes were beginning to become attached to the boards!  Maybe I was to be stuck on the pier forever! 

  Once I was about halfway down the pier, I noticed that someone else had been on the pier before me and had the same problem.  Obviously, a small raccoon had traipsed up the pier and at some point stopped.  The heat from its body had melted the frost and left clear footprints.  That was interesting enough but, as I was photographing the tracks, I noticed what a weird pattern the frost had made on the planks. Long stripes of very wicked looking spikes ran along each plank.  Well, I might as well photograph those while I was there.  

After the pictures, I poked the frosty spikes fully expecting them to be sharp.  Nope. Though thorn-like in appearance, they were extremely fragile and soft.  In fact, they were almost fluffy!  Mother Nature never ceases to amaze me but it was time to get up off of my knees and head back to the warmth of the Little Bayou House.