Between frozen spew and broken ice

January 1.

P. M. —Skate to Pantry Brook with C. 

All the tolerable skating is a narrow strip, often only two or three feet wide, between the frozen spew and the broken ice of the middle.

We see the pink light on the snow within a rod of us. The shadow of the bridges on the snow is a dark indigo blue.

H. D. Thoreau, Journal, January 1, 1855

Frozen spew. See December 20, 1854 (The river is "uneven like frozen suds, in rounded pan cakes, as when bread spews out in baking.)

Pink light on the snow. See December 20, 1854 ("In some places, where the sun falls on it, the snow has a pinkish tinge"); December 21, 1854 ("The last rays of the sun falling on the Baker Farm reflect a clear pink color. "); December 31, 1854 ("The shadows on the snow are indigo-blue"); January 10, 1859 ("This is one of the phenomena of the winter sunset, this distinct pink light reflected from the brows of snow-clad hills on one side of you as you are facing the sun."); January 15, 1856 ("My shadow is a most celestial blue. This only requires a clear bright day and snow-clad earth, not great cold. "); January 19, 1859 ("Methinks this pink on snow (as well as blue shadows) requires a clear, cold evening.");January 31, 1859 ("the pink light reflected from the low, flat snowy surfaces amid the ice on the meadows, just before sunset, is a constant phenomenon these clear winter days. "); February 10, 1855 (“My shadow is blue. It is especially blue when there is a bright sunlight on pure white snow.”)

January 1. See A Book of the Seasons,   by Henry Thoreau, January 1

Pink light on the snow –

the shadow of the bridges

dark indigo blue.

A Book of the Seasons,  by Henry Thoreau, Between frozen spew and broken ice 

A Book of the Seasons,  by Henry Thoreau

"A book, each page written in its own season,

out-of-doors, in its own locality.”

~edited, assembled and rewritten by zphx © 2009-2025

https://tinyurl.com/hdt-550101

Jan. 1. P. M. —Skated to Pantry Brook with C. All the tolerable skating was a narrow strip, often only two or three feet wide, between the frozen spew and the broken ice of the middle.

Jan. 2. I see, in the path near Goose Pond, where the rabbits have eaten the bark of smooth sumachs and young locusts rising above the snow; also bar berry. Yesterday we saw the pink light on the snow within a rod of us. The shadow of the bridges, etc., on the snow was a dark indigo blue.