I had been posting churches on Sunday and they have been winter scenes and I wondered if winter is hanging on because it thought I liked winter church scenes so I am posting a summer church scene instead as I am ready for spring.
In the unincorporated village of Calamine in southwestern Wisconsin, St. Michael’s Catholic Church sits beautifully on a hillside and was built in 1916.
St. Michael’s Catholic Church
I imagine there will be a large number of visitors at the Lake Superior ice caves this weekend since it is the last weekend they will be open this year as the ice is thinning and the ice formations are beginning to fall. Soon these big ice chunks will melt and will become part of Lake Superior waves that will etch out more sea caves.
Icy Falls
The snow is shrinking down and melting a little with the recent few days above freezing but the landscape is still mostly white. And while some rivers and streams may continue to flow all winter, some are flowing under a layer of ice and you may only hear the small waterfalls until they poke out in the spring again.
Icy River
All good things must come to an end. The Lake Superior ice caves will close after Sunday or sooner if the ice condition deteriorate rapidly this week. Nature provided a spectacular show this cold winter and it may not return in the upcoming years since it was five years since the last time the ice was stable to walk on to see. But while the ice caves will return to sea caves as the ice melts, nature will create another glorious show as wildflowers will add color to the landscape once all the snow is melted.
The End of Nature’s Ice Show
After several days finally above freezing, winter seems determined to hang on as it will stay below freezing today. Even though spring is approaching, winter is gripping on tight.
Winter Hanging On
Since the weatherman mentioned snow and sleet in the forecast for today, that made me a little blue and so I thought I would post more of the blue ice. I wondered why the ice in that area was more compact than the surrounding area to make it look blue. Maybe it heard spring will arrive some day and it would disappear and be forgotten and the ice was sad too.
Blue Ice
Besides the ice caves on the shore of Lake Superior, there were frozen water falls to view which might just be a little a wet trickle in the summer but it creates a large frozen falls in the winter.
The ice also appears different colors, like the yellow or pink, which picks up sand grains from the sandstone. And then in certain spots you can find blue ice, which is caused by how light is absorbed in the snow and ice and the difference in wavelength from the red spectrum to the blue. Water and ice behaves like a blue filter, which absorbs the reds and orange, and why deeper water appears blue.
Snow is composed of a bunch of ice grains with air in between them and almost all of the visible light striking the snow is reflected back and appears white. But in ice, there is less air and so fewer opportunities for light to scatter back out and light travels farther into the ice and gives the ice more time to absorb the red light so when the light returns to the surface, it is lacking red light, making it appear blue.
Colorful Ice
I will admit that I am prejudiced. And since it is the Lenten season and one is supposed to change bad habits. But I don’t think I will get over my prejudice too easily. I have seen this church in the summer and the church shines whiter next to green grass compared to the white snow and after this long winter, my prejudice against snow might not be easy to overcome.
The cold winter did bring a large crowd to this small village of Cornucopia on the south shore of Lake Superior as visitors flocked to view the ice caves so some may have seen this church, established in 1909, with an enclosed bell tower and a small onion dome. The founders of St. Mary Orthodox Church were Eastern European immigrants who settled in Northern Wisconsin because of the good farming conditions and employment in the logging industry.
And for all those who have been praying for more snow, stop it! It is time to let spring to come!
St. Mary Orthodox Church
Heck, if I could find the grass, I just might be tempted to park on it or at least park my butt on some nice green grass but no chance of that happening for a while.
Missing Grass
This dead tree is hanging on somehow without going over the edge of the steep cliff and dropping into Lake Superior. Just like this winter is hanging on and on and on. Time for the forces of nature to turn and let spring come and someday this tree will become driftwood on some beach.
Hanging On!
