Visions of Amethyst Creations!

Out and about the hillside this morning, I was surprised to come across some ice.  The past few days were well below freezing with temperatures down in the teens but yesterday warmed a good bit and today was quite warm.  This ice was in the stainless steel, crab-boiling pot that was sitting on the back porch.  I had put it outside to catch rainwater for the houseplants and then forgot all about it.  The plants went un-watered for a few days as it was far more important to prepare things for the hard freeze.  Those few days of frigid weather had frozen the ten inches of potted water into a solid block.  Today, however, the ice had thawed enough to be a sheet of about an inch thick.  Looking down in the pot, I was enthralled how purple the ice appeared.  The bright sunshine reflected from the stainless steel sides was playing crazy things as it refracted through the ice.  Air bubbles that had been trapped in the ice glistened like jewels.  It is a rare thing to find such icy beauty this far south.

I gingerly picked up the slab of ice to hold it so the sun would shine through it.  It glistened even more but lost the beautiful purple luster.  How interesting that the shiny steel would reflect this hue!  I felt horrible that this thing of beauty shattered once I tried to return it to its ice water home in the pot.  I experiment with glass fusion in the kiln occasionally and this one bit of ice has renewed that interest.  To be able to replicate this sparkly bit of ice with glass would be a dream come true!  Glass would be a bit more durable than the ice.  It may not have quite the same gemstone effect of the shimmery ice but if I can at least come close to what Mother Nature created, I would be happy.  *Note to self..start playing with the shards of glass again!

By mid-morning, the ice had fully melted leaving some grubby looking rain water in the pot.  This was doled out among the potted hibiscus and aloe plants.  Hopefully, they will appreciate the efforts of "sharing the beauty" even after it has melted!