Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Just a Nice Little Snowfall . . .

. . . And a really nice place to go walking in it!


It snowed all day long today,  but not so much that I needed snowshoes to walk in Saratoga Spa State Park, where I spent a couple of hours enjoying the beauty of the day.




One of the glories of this park are the magnificent buildings that form a quadrangle around a reflecting pool.  The pool, of course, was drained for the winter, but the Hall of Springs looked mighty handsome framed by snow-laden trees.






I hardly think of Saratoga's various spring waters as "chrystal,"  since they're very rich in minerals that affect the taste and even the color.  Here's the Geyser Spring still spouting out of its island formed by years and years and years of mineral accretions.




This spring must have lots of iron in its water to create deposits as red as blood.




And I mean REALLY  red!




Speaking of red, I did see a few other bright splashes of color in an otherwise black-and-white afternoon.  See how plump and rosy are these Red Maple buds.




At first glance, I thought that a flock of cardinals had landed in this Staghorn Sumac tree.




As I was walking toward home along an allee beneath towering pines, the lamppost lights came on and cast a golden glow on the snowy path.


4 comments:

Merry@Syracuse said...

Thank you for this lovely walk around the spa. I always wonder what makes all those different waters arise in that little area. Wonderful.

Elizabeth said...

Wow, you live in a magical place, with colorful water and lampposts in the woods! Those snowy scenes are beautiful. :D

Jacqueline Donnelly said...

Hi Elizabeth and Merry, thanks for stopping by. Hardly a day goes by that I don't thank my lucky stars that I live in such a beautiful city and even more beautiful natural world. Regarding those springs that give Saratoga Springs its name, they arise because of a major geologic fault that runs north-south right through the heart of town. The break in the rock layer allows underground waters containing dissolved minerals to rise to the surface. Many of the waters are actually carbonated and quite fizzy.

Virginia said...

Very nice! It's so nice to be out after a fresh snowfall. Here's hoping for more snow!