Spring breakup

Spring is coming – we know it from watching the ice disappear.  Martins River down the road is completely clear now, but outside our sheltered inlet there is a large, solid sheet of ice that goes up and down with the tide but hasn’t yet broken up, except around the edges.  When it does, the tide will carry it away.  It’s preventing the ice pans in our inlet from leaving for the open sea.  So they’re melting, and leaving a large open space of water.

2009-03-20-view
Melting ice in the inlet, blocked by a large sheet of ice from the open sea beyond.

Thinning ice pans that we were walking on a month ago
Thinning ice pans that we were walking on a month ago