December to Remember Day 30: Some Topical Photography

That's right - topical, not tropical - unfortunately. Here in the frigid northeast, we've had little snow to speak of. At least in our corner of Western New York. I gleefully bragged on the phone with my mother Christmas day that I hadn't shovelled all season, and that for the first time since leaving Texas - we wouldn't have a white Christmas. However, only a few days after Christmas, 2 in fact, it snowed several inches. I donned my cap and gloves, dug the shovel out of the garage and dug, pushed, dug, pushed, dug ... here's where my Southern USA readers get to spin around in their office chair with giddy joy! But there is an upside to the snow, the beautiful landscape it provides.

At the mouth of the horseshoe falls, the largest and most photographed section of Niagara Falls, is an US island named, oddly, GOAT. Goat Island is small, and separates the American falls into two parts, the larger American falls, and the bridal veil. In the summer, the mist coming from the Falls, both the bridal veil and the Horseshoe keep that part of Goat Island a constant 72 degrees, and the grass and trees stay brilliantly green. In the winter, however, the constant mist forms a layer of ice on the branches of those trees, locking whatever snow we have in place.

The photography options here are endless, and if you time it right - you might even catch a bird or two perched on these icy boughs wondering where their nests have gone.

Ice blankets the freshly fallen snow under foot, and can prove difficult to walk on ... I think I fell once this trip, and with the mist from the falls keeping you nice and wet - you'll want to remember to wear a hat; at the very least, a hooded jacket.

Now, this trip in particular was cut short - and I didn't get to take many photos. These are untouched, straight out of the camera. I figured altering them in any way would take away from the true beauty that exists there. With Christmas gone, and New Years right around the corner, I'm looking for inspiration for design in all places ... and I hope you'll find as much here as I have.

HAPPY NEW YEAR