RECENTLY WE WALKED THE TRAILS IN ARCADIA. It was shortly after a heavy rainfall that brought the water level of the Connecticut River up high enough to block adjacent roads, including Pynchon Meadow Road through the fields. When the water level was still high the temperature dropped and ice formed around every tree, twig and blade of grass that was surrounded by water. Slowly the water receded creating a series of stepped layers in the ice skirt. And the ice was remarkably transparent. Eventually the paper thin "skirts" were suspended in the air as the water level dropped far below them. While we were walking we kept hearing crackling, tinkling sounds as the skirts warmed in the sunlight and broke away shattering on the ground below. It was magical.