Photos: Nature’s icy holiday ornaments

by Marlene Berlin

Some of our neighbors go all out when decorating for Christmas. But the most spectacular decorations I saw over the holidays were completely natural.

After celebrating the last night of Hannukah, I set out on Christmas Day to see the gift of the icy ornamentation the cold snap left along Rock Creek and other nearby streams. On this excursion and another a few days later, I saw ice sculptures.

Rock Creek, from the Black Horse Trail.

And I saw abstract art.

Reflection in the Broad Branch stream’s ice.

Soapstone Creek’s icy abstractions.

On Rock Creek.

And I wasn’t the only one who saw art in nature.

Peculiar ice formations in Rock Creek Park, Washington DC pic.twitter.com/yrFQ3VlZYp

— C on the scene (@Conthescene) December 27, 2022

Pretty ice formations along the #KlingleValleyTrail in #RockCreekPark 🧊 pic.twitter.com/eYCkFK6M6Z

— Diane (@DianeKrauthamer) December 30, 2022