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“Going to trim the bushes!”
said Grant at the beginning of November.
Trim?
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We would have been left with a row of sticks, but that was when Little Man decided to go off on his adventure.
It was unlikely he’d return to the racket of a hedge-trimmer and he might not recognise the terrain if the hedges were razed, I suggested.
After that, the weather intervened.
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When the man tackles a situation, there is no holding him back. He insists that the bushes needed a chance to regenerate.
Or something like that.
Who am I to say?
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It is nice to have a clear view down to the field, at least!
Anyway, he’s not the only one who sometimes gets carried away with a project…
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For most of my life, I have been an over-thinker.
Given any situation, I analyzed it, considered it, worked out numerous possible developments and repercussions.
And frequently made a bad choice anyway.
Or none.
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Looking back, it is so clear that my best choices were always made spontaneously. How, on those occasions, did I allow myself to be so rash? It was completely out of character.
Somehow, I just knew to trust instinct.
To be spontaneous is to be true to yourself.
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Way back in my college days, I used to drink. Not to excess. A couple of serious hangovers persuaded me that was a bad idea.
But in those days, I needed a drink!
So, when I wrote essays for my professors, sometimes I was uninhibited and it was inevitably those papers that were successful.
Spontaneous.
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One of my greatest weaknesses is for pictures. All sorts of pictures; paintings, photographs, fabrics…
Simply, there are images and things I like looking at and I have – very many, most of them quite humble but a few a little less so.
My collection began when I first had a dwelling of my own, though interestingly, it was not my first apartment which never felt like home.
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Moving from my second to my third apartment wasn’t too bad since I’d had very little wall space to fill, but over the next few years, the collection grew.
Every time I moved, the greatest challenge was re-hanging everything, especially when I left the large Washington house for this much smaller one.
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Here I was with a pile of boxes and a few small blank walls staring at me.
Yet it has never been a problem. Selecting one large picture, up it goes and the rest simply find their places.
I don’t think about it. I just do it.
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What brought this to mind?
On January 3rd, temperatures fell below freezing once more and as long-range predictions called for it to continue for some time, I began another ice structure.
The previous one had vaporized, so this was from scratch.
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It’s a totally mindless activity which some might think quite daft, but I am fascinated with ice and I’d had the belated idea while building the previous structure, to add food colouring.
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And I’d collected a variety of containers in many shapes and sizes to make my building blocks.
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On the 5th, light snow…
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Though temperatures remain below freezing, the warmth of sunlight often modifies the ice.
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The appearance changes constantly.
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Wind, temperature and changing light all contribute which is part of my delight in this.
The impermanence of it.
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The madness of it.
The randomness.
No pattern to follow, no rules.
No planned outcome.
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Each block tells me where it wants to go.
Sometimes they don’t freeze totally overnight…
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…that’s fine too.
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Musical entertainment.
And avian critique.
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Snow is a very handy tool when building a structure with ice blocks, but there has been very little, so that has been another variation from last time.
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According to the Oracle, our temperature will remain below freezing until briefly on Saturday, then after Sunday it is expected to become seriously cold for several more days.
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It’s most unlikely that this construction will disappear the way the previous one did, though there may have to be some repairs.
Meanwhile it is growing by the day….
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Getting into the spirit of it, Grant brought me a contribution one morning.
It was too large and heavy to go on top, so I began the first annex.
Complete with the lump of scat frozen into it.
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Then I set about stacking…
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I’m hoping my bridges won’t collapse:(
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Grant’s annex under Saturday’s dusting of snow that hasn’t amounted to much.
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It made a nice temporary addition.
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Grovelling in the snow to capture every aspect!
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Sunday morning before the additions.
But I’ll save those for next time.
I love the blues and greens in the ice, but I was wondering where the yellows came from; having been taught in childhood to avoid yellow ice and snow! -Gladys
Food colouring!
Thank you, Carolyn, for the interesting photos. I love many paintings too!
Joanna
I love these new ice sculptures, especially the addition of colouring. I reckon the next stage could be spirals of colouring added to a frozen block! Nice musical touch too.
I’m eagerly awaiting the next addition to the ice sculptures. Try adding two or more colors to a bowl and see what happens.
One of the very best things about being retired and living in your own house is that if you want to build completely random ice block sculptures you can. And there is nobody to stop you, or to ask you not to.
Best wishes, Pete.
I love your ice structures! And how creative to add food colouring – it gives your structures a completely different look 🌟. As for your video: That’s the type of music I needed to hear now before heading to bed – lovely!