Photo of the Day: Frozen Over: Overpeck Creek, Leonia, NJ

Late yesterday afternoon, when I stepped out for a walk of only a couple of blocks, I was half sorry about my decision: for all the abundant sunlight, temperatures stubbornly refused to climb over 21 degrees and the gusts were strong enough to put the wind-chill factor (a measure that I have always felt was invented to make us feel even worse than we already did) in the mid-teens. I could not answer or get a grip on my iPhone without taking off my gloves, but leaving my hands exposed put me in danger of frostbite.

Twenty-four hours later, it was a different story at Overpeck Park, a couple of miles from where I live in Bergen County, NJ. At 30 degrees, the temperature was just south of the freezing mark and there were no large gusts of air—an effective difference of 15 degrees between the two days in the wind-chill factor.

The somewhat warmer temperatures beckoned a number of walkers like me to step out for some brisk exercise. I also took the opportunity to photograph the Hackensack River tributary that gives its name to the park, Overpeck Creek, which was covered by ice for about three-quarters of the expanse from where I stood.

(Thanks to my friend Emil for the photography advice.)