Wednesday, January 20, 2010

ICICLES



These were my first glimpse of Indiana---in Autumn of 1990, the year that we moved here. Chris had been here since October, and at Thanksgiving a young woman in our area, whose husband was also here for the five-month training, asked if I’d like to ride with her to Indy to see our guys.

She made it clear that we would be traveling UP in a Miata---the Barbiest of cars, with little room for even my short legs, and absolutely NO room for anything except a small carry-case of necessities. Since Chris and I had discussed having a few of his colleagues over to his tiny apartment for Thanksgiving dinner, I packed my smallest valise with tightly-rolled unders and a couple of t-shirts and slacks, so that I could hope to squeeze two pies into the car in my tiny allotted space.

A pecan pie went into the bottom of the pie-carrier, with a fluffy coconut one on the top shelf, both baked LATE the night before, and we left early on Wednesday morning. I nestled the valise between my feet, and the pie-taker between a globe and a bread-machine in the only available level space in the back seat, and away we went.

As we got on up into Kentucky, the highway ran in the great man-cloven valleys between the hills and mountains, those sheer cliffs of rock looming above the car on either side like a gorge over a river. And the seepage of water from the crevices in the rock had frozen into great cascades and cake-garnishes of lacework and dropwork, along with sections resembling icy-sharp monster-fangs warning away all passers-by.

And every one of the formations made me smile---I was looking my eyes full, sweeping my head back to see as long as I could, then snapping back, ready for the next glimpse of that alien landscape of ice.

So icicles, anywhere, are favorites of mine---from the ones in Mississippi, captured recently in their unseasonal weather by Marty Kittrell:

http://martykittrellphotos.blogspot.com/2010/01/mint-springs_20.html

Or Janie at:

http://southernlagniappe.blogspot.com/2010/01/beauty-of-icicles.html

To an ice-harp on the eaves of our garage:



Fleeting beauty is almost always the fairest of all.


3 comments:

  1. You are so right, though I never thought about it before. But, since you mentioned it, I think of the beauty of a glorious sunset. They can be so beautiful...but if you blink your eyes, they change! If you don't make a picture, it's gone before you know it...except what's left in your memory.

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  2. Hi Rachel, I too have always been fascinated by icicles. So beautiful in there natural display of ice in action. Growing by the hour into beards, daggers, lace etc. They can actually be dangerous if one should fall on you. Love your photos. Did everyone enjoy your baked goods?

    Have a great day.
    Hugs, Jeanne

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  3. So true!

    The high today is forecasted to be 72 degrees - in January! You just never know.

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