Ice Feathers

This morning, the residents of Vicksburg were greeted by shimmery ice-covered trees and shrubbery, but, thankfully, we were spared icy roads.  I had a hair appointment in Jackson, and you know what the postal service says about, "Neither snow nor rain [nor ice] nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds?"  Well, the same can probably be said about most of us ladies when it comes to our hair appointments.

As I was carefully backing out of the driveway, I did a double take.  The Pampas Grass beside the driveway was completely covered in ice and its fronds were so pretty I had to go back inside and get my camera.

The fronds reminded me of feathers encased in glass, and I captured these pictures from inside the car sitting in the driveway ...

 This next picture is my favorite ... isn't God's handiwork truly breathtaking!

It is not humanly possible, even for the world's finest glass makers, to replicate the graceful elegance of that single ice-encased frond. 

  

Our little male cardinal greeted me when I returned home from Jackson.  He was sitting on a bench underneath our Japanese Maple, as if he was waiting for me to come home and put out some fresh sunflower seeds for him, which I'm going to do when I finish this post.  I captured these pictures from inside the kitchen window.

  

The ice will be gone tomorrow ... and so we will we.  We're heading South to spend a couple of days on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and are looking forward to sunshine and temperatures in the mid-60s. Wish we could send some sunshine your way, but perhaps I'll at least have some "sunshiny" pictures to share.