Tag Archives: snow oddity

Another Snow Oddity

You’ll never guess what this is, so I’ll just tell you.

Years ago, a neighbor kid was practicing casting his fishing rod out in the yard. The fishing hook got caught way up, in a dead tree branch. He got his line free by yanking hard enough to break the brittle branch. Since, a little piece of that broken branch has hung from a piece of fishing line attached to a higher branch.

I do not understand the dynamics of what happened. But I do welcome unsolved mysteries in nature. Whenever I see the broken branch twirling on the invisible fishing line, seemingly hovering in the air, it cracks me up. It really cracked me up after yesterday’s storm — the snow piled high upon it, the fishing line invisible as always. I may be the only person who knows it exists. I’m definitely the one that appreciates it most.

What Do You Call This Thing?

This is the second one I’ve seen this winter. The snow recedes and leaves a … creature. This one is about 3″ high. If you know what it’s called, please report in.

I know what a snow devil is. That ethereal being, hard to capture on camera, is similarly rare and magical.


If you photograph it at the right angle, it looks like it’s floating. Maybe it is. I think it’s going to your house. This one is a bit of a Rorschach test. Tell me what you see?