Pond Hockey, Manomet, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

One of the advantages of living near a small pond is that for a few days in the winter when the ice is fresh and thick and smooth, the neighborhood enthusiasts play pond hockey.

There is nothing like the graceful arcs that a skate blade cuts in new untouched ice.

After a few hours of intense use, though, the ice surface gets pretty chewed up from the skate blades. And one of the disadvantages of a frozen small pond is that there is no Zamboni to refinish the ice. (Zamboni is a machine that is often used to resurface ice in an arena or skating rink). 

This is one of the images that I was hoping would be great. I wanted to capture the spray of ice from an abrupt stop sparkling in the sunshine. I timed it well but, the skaters moved into the shadows at the last second. Oh well, better luck next time........

Hockey isn't the only activity on the ice. These two long-haired women made a great image when spinning around.

As the day draws to close, imminent rain, sleet, and snow is forecast to arrive which will render the surface unusable.