Sunday, January 18, 2009

Mad Dog and a Gyre of Ice



Ben turned into Mad Dog* this afternoon and ran off down the hill to the lower field, presumably to find some more deer remains. Austin decided to accompany him, to see what the Meechums River looked like after the cold snap.

[*Mad Dog is Ben's alter-ego. When the moon is full, and people turn into werewolves, Ben turns into Mad Dog. Our normally quiet (some might say "lazy"), almost nine year-old dog transforms into a wild, wiggly creature that runs amock, chasing anything that moves at top speed.]

Austin found a gyre of ice had been created beneath the small falls on our property (which in local lore is called "Ass Buster Falls" according to our 80-something year old sparkplug of a neighbor who has lived on our street all her life).

The water speed from the falls had managed to chip away the ice into a perfect, maybe 6' circle, and the water was slowly making the ice circle spin in place, at the mouth of the falls. Check out the pic:


Unfortunately, Ben didn't share our same fascination with the spinning and ice and busied himself going for a swim (not recommended in a partially frozen river!) and finding more deer parts to bring to the front steps. Whatta Dog....