Ice Bloom

I call it the Ice Bloom... when ice starts to form on the river.  Some people refer to them as lily pads.  It is a short lived event, usually only lasting a few days.  If temperatures stay mild, the ice pads will run down the river for up to a week or two.  If the temperature plummets, the spectacle only lasts a day or so.  Eventually the ice jams up in the river, and then it freezes over.  While it lasts it is a really spectacular event to witness.  The current is moving deceptively fast, and the ice is floating by at a pretty good speed.  I've photographed it numerous times in the past, and always attempt to try it again when conditions are right.  This year it actually lasted for over a week.  

On November 21st I went for a walk down by the river and took my youngest daughter Helena with me.  There was no snow on the ground at this point, and the temperature was quite mild.  It always feels considerably colder down by the river though, with the humidity coming off the open water.  Helena was a pretty good sport about it...   Just a few days prior she had taken a spill at school during recess and peeled her kneecap to the tune of about 10 stitches.  We drove down near the river and then walked over to the pedestrian bridge near Fort Edmonton Park.  She was running around and climbing and jumping off of the benches on the bridge showing little ill effect from the recent accident.  She has sort of a stiff-legged run and I've been calling her "peg-leg" for the last few days.

The ice was really beginning to accumulate in the river and I took a couple of shots with my view camera.  Here are a couple snapshots from that afternoon, taken with my phone.....