Cypress knees support ice table

Ice Table

Cold weather can cause what would otherwise be a mundane scene to become exceptional.

In this case the water in a swamp was higher than normal when cold weather came to Southeast Missouri and stayed long enough to freeze solid the top three inches of surface water. The ice could not support itself as the water below slowly drained away to normal levels causing the ice to crack. But in some places I discovered the ice had found support and remained at the elevation where it originally froze.

This photo shows cypress knees providing sufficient buttress to hold up a section of ice large enough to resemble an oval dining table.