Pedestrian guardrail.
With snow on the ground and ice on the river, you can get some nice shadows on rare sunny days in winter.

At Geddes Dam, Gallup Park
Ann Arbor
February 9, 2013
My shadow cast on the ice, with Geddes Dam in the distance.

Gallup Park, Ann Arbor
February 9, 2013
Retaining wall, shadow of safety railing, and reflection of orange warning float.

Huron River, just above Geddes Dam.
Gallup Park, Ann Arbor
February 9, 2013
Dogs eager for a walk or run.

Geddes Dam parking lot, Gallup Park
Ann Arbor
February 9, 2013
Semi-detached.
I've seen this sort of thing many times, when melting is far enough advanced that entire icicles fall free.  There can be a point in time when the last icicles in a row are free from attachment to the roof (or whatever) and are only supported by their connection to their neighbors.  Ice is strong, but brittle.

February 6, 2013
Icicle morphology fascinates me.
Surely only the tiniest of differences in local temperature, wind, and drip rate send individual icicles down completely different paths of formation.

February 6, 2013
Icicle curtain.

February 6, 2013
Marching to a different drummer.
The center icicle had somehow been driven back toward the house as it formed, while its neighbors 'ran true' in essentially vertical paths.

February 6, 2013
Astrophytum Cactus #01b-2012M 05
Backlit spines on a star cactus.
.
Arid House, Conservatory at the Matthaei Botanical Gardens, 
Ann Arbor, Michigan
November 1, 2012
Pedestrian guardrail.
With snow on the ground and ice on the river, you can get some nice shadows on rare sunny days in winter.

At Geddes Dam, Gallup Park
Ann Arbor
February 9, 2013
Pedestrian guardrail.
With snow on the ground and ice on the river, you can get some nice shadows on rare sunny days in winter.

At Geddes Dam, Gallup Park
Ann Arbor
February 9, 2013
Pedestrian guardrail.
With snow on the ground and ice on the river, you can get some nice shadows on rare sunny days in winter.

At Geddes Dam, Gallup Park
Ann Arbor
February 9, 2013
See photo in original gallery.