Frozen Ocean
Wednesday, January 21, 2009 at 2:20PM In January of 2003, and again the next winter, Buzzard’s Bay froze over. Completely. From shore to shore, the moving blue ocean that created the sound of summer was white, still, and silent. It was breathtaking. And quite other-worldly.
I lived on the ocean, and because I looked at it every day, I took for granted that many people in town were actually unaware of this phenomenon. When it first happened, before it became local news and potential folklore, I would tell people about it and they would be stunned. I implored everyone I came across to see it for themselves. At the time, I was in a band called The Lost Boys, and I tried in vain to get them all to come down and get a picture of us out on the vast frozen whiteness. It would have been the perfect band shot.
I, however, took advantage of this miracle of ice every day. I shot hundreds of photographs and walked out on it, sometimes as far out as a half a mile, virtually every day. For a snow and cold lover, this was nirvana.
This photograph was taken on the 23rd of January, 2003, a little past noon. During the incredible three week cold spell, this was usually the warmest part of the day. Then, and only then, would the edges of the bay temporarily melt. When they did, the water by the shores would turn this amazing shade of turquoise. By late afternoon however, when the temperature retreated from the balmy low teens back to single digits, the shore would freeze over again. Then I would wait until just before dark and venture out onto the frozen ocean again. Crazy? Maybe. But I’ve already told you I’m a blizzard junkie. That kind of foolhardy behavior comes with the territory.
©2009 Clint Piatelli
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