Last Friday was the kind of January day that makes a Mainer glad to be alive. The sun was shining and the sky was a brilliant blue that only comes in winter. A good afternoon to be out, but as my holiday vacation is over, I had much work to do, and it therefore fell to Clif to do various errands.
“But take the camera,” I said. “And get some pictures.”
“All right,” Clif said, and off he went.
Winthrop is a town of lakes, ponds, and streams. While not an island, our town is surrounded by water, which brings life and beauty to the area. After seeing the pictures of drought from blogging friends in different parts of the world, I have come to greatly appreciate all the water we have in Winthrop.
On that beautiful sunny Friday, Clif headed to Maranacook Lake, about a mile and half from our home, in the opposite direction of the Narrows Ponds. There is a public beach, where our daughters learned to swim. There is a sweet little park with picnic tables and grills, a perfect place to sit and relax on warm sunny days.
But in January, there are no swimmers or picnickers, and the beach and park are empty.
Instead, we have sky, snow, and mostly water, some of it frozen, some not. Note: I did not fiddle with the colors at all. They are exactly as Clif took them.
In a usual winter, life on the beach and the park heads out onto the ice, where fishing shacks are set up, and hardy souls go fishing. The frozen lake becomes a village where people fish and talk and laugh and children play. While I am not into ice fishing, I always enjoy seeing the villages, a bright accent in a frozen world.
Unfortunately, there are no ice shacks on the lake. As the open water by the shore indicates, the weather just hasn’t been cold enough.
But a cold snap is coming, and February is often as brisk as January. So there might be time yet.
Clif and I will be watching.
Notes From the Hinterland 
Beautiful photos.
xx
Many thanks!
I love that kind of bluebird day. Nice pix, Clif! Sadly, there haven’t been many like that for us so far this year. It’s crazy that so many of our days have been in the upper 30s/low 40s… in January? Crazy. I guess Siberia is getting the vortex this year, I just read they hit 73 below zero…. yikes!
Yes, warmer than average. Better than 73 below, though.
Looks so lovely – if cold!
Many thanks! Not too cold for us. 😉
Good photos, love the birch trees strutting their bark. No ice fishing here either, but you have way more snow than we do after our heavy rain. Stay well.
Thanks, Judy! You, too.
Such a beautiful blue sky!! Nice shots of Maranacook!
Thanks, Gayle!
All three of these are so beautiful. The blues and whites and grays are incredible.
Thanks so much!
It looks so peaceful with the clear sky and the snow Laurie and Clif’s photographs are beautiful! 💙
Many thanks!
Great pictures, you live in a beautiful place.
Thanks, Susan!
I am sorry about the lack of ice shacks but the combination of water and ice is lovely. Congratulations to the photographer.
Thanks, Tootlepedal! I will let him know.
Such beauty! The blues and shades of white and gray are so pretty. Brrrr. It looks cold there!
Thanks, Jodie! By our standards, not too bad. 😉
Those are beautiful photos! I especially love the birch tree against the sky.
Thanks, Lavinia! That one is my favorite, too.
Kudos to Clif.
These photos are stunning (and they made my body temperature drop just looking at them)! 😀
Many thanks! By our standards, not that cold. 😉
Is that white tree in the midst of the white snow one of your silver birches? It’s a beautiful scene!
Many thanks! We call them white birches, but I’m not sure if that is correct. According to Britannica, white birches are called silver birches in England, so maybe both names are correct. 😉
What a pretty day you had! We had one day like this too, but then it was back to our normal grey days. I’m looking forward to another blue sky day someday soon. Love the white birch and all that blue sky!
Thanks, Dawn!
Very beautiful scenery: I enjoyed all of these photographs. Clif has a good photographic eye 🙂
Thanks, Anne!
Absolutely beautiful photos, well done Clif! A blue sky on a winter’s day really accentuates the trees and the white, white snow, not to mention the near-frozen water. I hope you both have a happy and productive week.
Many thanks!
Clif’s pics and your prose make a good combination
Thanks, Derrick!
Beautiful and I know it’s not happening now but I’ve never seen shacks set up and ice fishing, sounds amazing 👍
We will be on the lookout for ice shacks. If they are there, we’ll take pictures.
Great photos. For me, there is always something about a picture of a solitary tree that just draws me. Thanks for sharing these beautiful landscape photos.
My pleasure! And, yes, there is something special about a solitary tree.
The blue is dazzling against the white, Laurie. What beautiful winters you have. I used to live in Vermont and we had lots of ice-fishers when the lake froze. An occasional sinking vehicle too. Enjoy your brisk beautiful days.
Thanks so much! Yes, an occasional sinking vehicle in Maine, too, but not very often.
Beautiful photos of a beautiful day. It seems it’s not as cold as usual anywhere this year.
Thanks, Robin. Yes, a warm winter for many of us.
What a gorgeous place — love the contrast between the deep blue and the white!
Thanks, Debbie. We are lucky to live next to so many beautiful places.
Clif is such a sweetie and so obliging! These are wonderful captures – the blue is unbelievable – I know you mentioned they are unedited and I am even more amazed.
Thank you for sharing scenes and delicious cold which are so exciting to one who is waking to a 84 deg morning in Singapore.
Many thanks! My pleasure.
Well done, Clif, for coming home with good blog fodder. I’d like to see the ice shacks if it gets cold enough.
We’ll be looking out for them and will post pictures of them if they are on the lake.
Blue sky, pristine white snow – what a beautiful place to walk. We had snow this morning, think I’ll step outside myself.
Many thanks!