The past two months I have been out and about, but never stray far from my house. The cold weather,and beautiful snow we have been experiencing haven’t disappointed me around Communiversity Park and UW-Green Bay Arboretum Trail System. The ice along the bay is glistening. The woodland trails and trees are heavenly.
December is a difficult month to get out and up and enjoy outdoor activities, it is the month of late dawns and early sunsets. Meaning that during the week your are more than likely well on your way to work when the sun rises and coming home when the sun has set. Darkness on both accounts.
As The Cold Wind Blows
Just as the last colorful fall leaf hit the ground the cold winds started to blow this year. The cold start of winter kicked up some fairly large waves along the Bay of Green Bay at Communiversity Park. Creating lovely ice formation on the branches and trees.
Communiversity Park
One morning I grabbed my travel mug filled with coffee and headed out to experience a sunrise. I am always up early enough to photograph the sun meeting the day, but never seem to get out and experience it.
Communiversity Park is known for beautiful sunsets. Today I wanted to check out what the shoreline looked like in the morning.
The Color Doesn’t Last Long
The sky really doesn’t look all that wonderful after a few short minutes. The ice that covers the shoreline was a different story. All the pockets of shadows in the snow that covered the ice were awesome.
The cloud cover made up for the sky coloring and all the trees were a glowing yellow.
Each Place You Stand Yields Something New
Today, it didn’t matter where you stood, the view was a delight for the senses. It was a little difficult navigating the icy shoreline though.
Window Through Icy Goodness
My favorite places were areas of the bay that had not froze over yet and allowed me to pear through the ice sculptures created by the bay lapping up onto the shoreline trees.
The wispy ice grew in all directions.
The wind and heavy snow we received the previous day knocked down tons of branches and took down some trees that met the waters edge. Ice soon coated the branches creating stunning views.
You Can Never Seem To Capture The Beauty
There is a beauty to the area that one could never fully capture on camera. I tried but failed. The shoreline is something that had to be experienced in person. I seem to fall short on being able to recreate the vast beauty of the day.
I have come to the realization that I photograph to remember the places I have been, to look back at later in hopes that I have captured the feeling of the places that were visited.
Look Up
Today was a day that I looked up. A funny fact of life is that I have spent a great deal of my life looking down at my feet or at the horizon level when I walk.
A trait I am fully aware that I do, mainly because I am lost in thought. It has lead to being aware of plenty of tripping hazards and finding more money on the ground than the average person.
Today, I looked up and when you look up once in a while, your perception changes. 🙂
UW-Green Bay Arboretum Trail System Through The Woods
Surrounding Communiversity Park there are a variety of trails. Today was a day for exploring the trail section around Shorewood Golf Course.
As the day went on there was fresh snow that fell and it was a good opportunity to photograph in black and white on the UW-Green Bay Arboretum Trail system.
Snowy Bridge
One of the snow covered bridges on the trail system. It is stunning in the fall with the colorful leaves but the snow proved to be impressive.
Four!
Shorewood Golf Course looks a little different during the winter.
Gone is the green grass, summer breeze and golf carts.
It Is Snowing
Hardwood trees cover both side of the trail. When the tree limbs and remaining leaves are covered in heavy wet snow, it is a magical site.
Pictured is the service vehicle entrance on the backside of Shorewood Golf Course.
Hope you enjoyed tagging along the shores of Bay of Green Bay, Communiversity Park and UW-Green Bay Arboretum Trail System.
Until next time my friends – take care!
Additional Posts:
Chapel on UW-Green Bay Arboretum Trail System
Wequiock Falls Green Bay
Bairds Nature Preserve After Winter Storm