Ushguli, Svaneti, Georgia

Ice up close, never-ending source of wonder for me, all too easily missed if you're not looking for it

The village (practically all of it)  from its top church, Lamaria

Ushguli, Svaneti, Georgia

Three views of parts of the village from various places.  It's not that common to find points on the ground from which the whole thing is visible, as it consists of 4 or 5 hamlets spread out some distance from each other; indeed, in none of these shots is the whole thing in view

Ushguli, Svaneti, Georgia

Ice, just ice

Ushguli, Svaneti, Georgia

More water-ice interactions making beauty

I knew that the electricity guys'd be working on our transformer - that was why we had no electricity in the upper 3/4 of the village for a few days.  I leisurely took a few shots of them digging up the old one in preparation to receive the new one - and then the latter was installed very fast while I was at home, and I missed the great event.  Oh well, you win some, you lose some

This is the effect of flowing water on the snow above it:  splashing up, melting it, refreezing it into ice, which hangs down but instead of tapering it widens, making these fantastic penduli (pendulums?)

Ushguli, Svaneti, Georgia

Three views from the place which was my destination when I was interrupted briefly, resulting in the photos which I posted yesterday.  (That area of fascinating patterns was short-lived, melting into plain brown liquid long before I returned from the trek which produced today's photos.)

Here is Queen Tamar's Summer Tower, high above Ushguli (most of the village can be seen in the top photo).  I found the going to it pleasantly easy, considering that I was walking on up to 1.5m of snow.  But the snow was wonderfully hardened from much repeated thawing and refreezing, so I didn't sink into it more than 4 or 5 cm, which was wonderful.  The earlier in the day one makes such trips, the harder is the snow, so morning is better than afternoon.

Ushguli, Svaneti, Georgia

Three images from a small patch of ground today.  I discovered it on the way to a more obviously interesting part of the village, somewhere with big landscapes - Tamar's Summer Tower, if I remember.  But I'm usually on the lookout for details in nature as well, so this intriguing little unfolding drama presented itself to me.

What is it, you might ask?  The answer might change your opinion of whether the photos are beautiful or not.  They are formed from interactions between solids and liquids at temperatures just above 0 degrees C... in a place frequented by the village's farm animals; in other words, from their manure and urine freezing and thawing on the ground.  Hey, I walk through this stuff every day from anywhere to anywhere else, in my rubber boots, no longer noticing the look, the feel or the smell.

Ushguli, Svaneti, Georgia

Happy

Birthday

Dad.

Happy

Easter

(Orthodox)

World.

Watchtower in window

View of my village

Ice microcosms