The animal kingdom is rife with colors and patterns that are superficially worn and can serve a number of purposes. These visible arrangements can also, in some cases, change according to factors such as age or the season.
On the south side of Chicago, I walked across snow-covered sand on an icy lakeshore. The ice that had formed where water met beach lowly creaked as water moved underneath it. The winter day was cold, but, thankfully, there was a lack of wind whose harshness would have only been magnified by traveling across Lake Michigan.