Here’s a visual puzzle. I know what this is, but there are parts I cannot explain.

@cliffordbeshers Trees in a snowfield seen through a dirty windshield?

@jeremycherfas I love that guess. It's not right, but all the elements are reasonable.

@cliffordbeshers Thistle poking out of ice slick pavement? The texture is a puzzler.

@jean Not a thistle, but similar, Great Basin Sage, I think. Ice, but no pavement.

@cliffordbeshers Are the plants popping up through plastic sheeting (often used for weed control)?

@fgtech Yes popping up through, not plastic sheeting.

@jeremycherfas @jean @fgtech This is the best clue I can give

@cliffordbeshers I kinda love it when I can’t get these. It means I’m going to learn something new. I’m weird like that, though. I also love debugging code.

@cliffordbeshers I didn’t catch this one in time but it’s a photo that’s almost better when you don’t know. My first thought was an island trapped in snow and ice from an airplane.

@cliffordbeshers Ice on the surface of a pond (or puddle) with your sage poking through.

@JohnAN @cliffordbeshers Thats what I thought too. The patterns are probably due to freezing/ thaw.

@JohnAN @odd @gregmoore @fgtech @jean @jeremycherfas

Here's another view of our giant puddle we call a lake.

It's very shallow, which accounts for the sagebrush popping up. As for the patterns in the ice, those might be skate marks to the left of the shadow; some neighbors tried it out, but declared the ice too bumpy. The rest, I think @odd is right, freeze/thaw, but I'm by no means certain.

@cliffordbeshers @odd There's something magical about ice. I lived briefly in a place down south where the surface of puddles would freeze overnight, and it created wonderful effects and illusions. That's a very far cry from Sydney at the moment :)

@JohnAN I didn’t know you had ice in Australia at all! TIL.🧊

@odd Hi Odd :) We even have snow in some places. Actually, it snowed when I was living in that place where the puddles froze. It's a country town called Crookwell, 40km into the bush from Goulburn, in New South Wales. And I've never seen as many rabbits in my life as there were in Crookwell 🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇 🙂

@odd Um, TIL? 🤔

@JohnAN I didn’t know. I guess the rabbits are considered a pest there, although I love them. 🐰🥕

@JohnAN Things I Learn.

@odd Everyone loves rabbits 🙂🐰🐇🙂 But they are a bit of a pest in Australia. They should have stayed in Europe ... and the UK :)

@JohnAN Agree totally.