Some thoughts on Icicles

I've been thinking and I just felt like writing today.

My topic is icicles.

We had an almost blizzard here this week. 20 inches of snow piled on top of the 20 inches we got the week before. Now that much snow is not usual for South Eastern Pennsylvania. And one thing that much snow almost guarantees is icicles.

Icicles are just fascinating. Just what is it about dripping water and cold weather that produces these sparkling tapered objects. And as a responsible adult, should I be worried about the heat loss through my roof supposedly making all that snow melt? Why do the icicles to the left of my window hang straight down and the ones to the right twist and follow the slope of the roof? And what effect is all this ice going to have on the paint job on the eves of my house?

The sky was cloud covered, the snow was coming down about 1 inch an hour and still there was dripping water and icicles forming. Blowing snow was building up on the windy side but the icicle was still dripping and getting longer and longer.

Icicles are clear. The light shines through them. And when the sunlight hits them directly the edges just seem to light up. REAL icicles are big, a lot bigger than the plastic and glass ones we hang on the Christmas tree. They have a rippled texture that seems to collect light inside and just hold it there. You just don't expect to be able to see through something in nature other than flowing water. And that's just it. Icicles are flowing water that stopped. They are in essence still, but when you watch one you can see the water flowing down the outside and dripping from the tip.



Icicles grow! Hour by hour as I move around the house I can keep check on my favorites. I want some kind of measuring device out there. I want to be able to call out, "18 inches and growing!" Can you have a favorite icicle. You bet. Some hang straight as a ruler. Others seem to have a collective outlook with a number of stems joined together. Now and then some variation in the wind or temperature leads one to add a branch or little nub near the tip. And each one keeps changing. Long and slender, thick and bold, slight ripples or lots of texture.

I watched one icicle develop over a whole day. It was grand. It was thick, with multiple joined stems. And it made me wonder about the whole stalactite and stalagmite thing. This thing was huge and it kept growing. By bed time it was as thick as my forearm and reached from the eve just above the window down about 5 feet almost to snow on the roof of the extension one floor below. The following morning it had touched the snow. (More worries about how much heat leaks through my roof, how can an icicle grow during the night?) Just as you think you have a real champion of icicles something else changes. My giant icicle just loosened from the gutter and toppled over onto the roof. I can still see it laying there. Time to go look for a new favorite.