Forms of Imitation

This photo contains two of my favorite subjects; patterns in ice and cottonwood trees.  Both have very similar qualities if you consider them as abstract patterns.  When they come together at the same time in compositions like this I am piqued to pay very close attention to my surroundings in the event there are other moments waiting to be experienced.  No such luck this day, one instance of tangential congruity (or "trees imitate ice imitating trees", if you will).
I realize that not every one is inclined toward thinking of the natural world as a vital ball of playful energy.  Dead leaves frozen in ice are not, after all, mimicking the dull architecture of picnic shelters.  Are they merely randomly scattered instances of discarded material?  Maybe they are... but that seems so final and dismissive and scientific and adult.  Maybe they are part of something bigger and beyond our understanding.  Just writing that sentence opens the door of possibility.
One idea begets another around here.  This is why I'm prone to these ramblings and mumblings.  We started our journey in this photograph with the curios similarities between leafless tree branches and the cracks of solidifying lake ice only to find ourselves perched on the threshold of universal understanding.  Heady stuff to be sure!  It's probably even a little polarizing, some will accept the possibility and some will reject it outright.  Without the validity of both reactions the conversation is not possible.
There is a lot of fear and suspicion that manifests along with playful curiosity, kind of like walking on a not-so-frozen lake.