"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to who this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed." ~Albert Einstein, What I Believe
Last night I stood in the line at the grocery store buying a few items for a potluck lunch that is happening today. I love looking in the carts of other people, noticing what they buy, imagining their lives outside the grocery store line. As I gazed into the cart of the man in front of me, he hefted a large bag of ice onto the checkout counter. I nearly laughed out loud.
Ice! How could anyone need any more of it?, I thought. It seems we have been surrounded by ice for weeks as the temperatures have hovered near or below zero. Ice covers our lakes, our ponds, our sidewalks. Huge chunks of ice float in the Mississippi River. I see it as I cross over its body several times a day. Icicles hang from roofs and eaves of houses and buildings, glistening like jewels in the winter sun, threatening to fall and impale those with the courage to walk beneath their sword-like structures.
On Friday evening we headed down to Rice Park in St. Paul to look at the ice sculptures being created for the Winter Carnival. Huge blocks of ice stood reflecting the twinkling lights hung on the trees in the park. Men and women dressed for Arctic temperatures used chainsaws, torches and other tools to carve the art of their imagination out of ice. As they carved, a fine spray of ice flew into their faces,clinging like snow to their scarves and beards. There were dolphins,palm trees, a fountain of unicorns and even the Lord's Supper preserved in ice. I wonder what DaVinci would think of his immortal painting recreated in such a manner?Somehow I think it would amuse him.
These artists are not only undaunted by the presence of January ice in Minnesota, they embrace it and use it to make us smile and fill us with wonder. What a gift! Robert Frost in his famous poem 'Fire & Ice' wonders whether or not the destruction of the world will come through fire or ice. I am humbled by the artists who see ice, not as a vehicle for destruction, but instead to lift us above the January doldrums and help us see ice as the mystery it is…..water become solid and shining before our very eyes, a fleeting gift of winter to be enjoyed and savored as much as we do the heat of the July sun.