Dick's Hideaway: 

The ice gardener

The surprise of delicate ice shards springing from sheets of ice clashing together with enough force to knock down a house is as inspiring as the first bloom in a fresh garden.
Saturday's sassy winds whipped up modest waves in the few small strips of open water near shore and sent bergs of ice sailing, skipping, skittering as they crashed like bumper cars and melted away.
Tons of ice went into hibernation for the summer.
Lucky were those of us who watched the frolicking otter on the water, climbing onto the fading ice and diving back into the lake, the mallard pair quietly gliding near shore, dipping for food, bums in the air, the hooded merganser awaiting his partner, the gulls and ravens and robins busy with their own lives.
Luckiest of all, though, were those who witnessed the temporary magic of the fragile ice blossoms created by ice chunks propelled by fierce breezes.
Boating bonanza is about to begin.