The autumn song of the ice

Have you ever heard ice "singing"? It's those booms and cracking noises that are heard when (black) ice is freezing and thus expanding. Living by a northern lake, we can hear it every now and then. I will never forget a night last winter, when I was standing in the yard on the otherwise silent night admiring the unusually spectacular northern lights and listening the ice cracking.

A quotation from Outside magazine (online) describes these sounds: "Ice sings and plays music when it is in a dynamic phase of freezing or temperature change. The larger the lake, the more varied the sounds. (...) Fresh black ice growing on a large lake sounds remarkably like the recorded songs of whales at sea."

What I now call "song" is yet another thing. Temperatures around zero (Celsius) in these days, a thin layer of ice covers only part of the surface of the lake and there are cracks and floating pieces. The southwestern wind makes the little pieces of ice clink against one another... and this slightly melancholic jingle is the autumn song. :)

These photos are not very Christmassy (sorry!). Yesterday was dark and grey and a heavy snowfall was arriving. Nevertheless, the intricate forms created by ice caught my attention and looked artistic. I decided to turn the photos into black and white and increased the contrast in some of them.

When spring comes and the ice breaks, we will again hear the tinkling chimes as the pieces of ice clink against each other before melting - and that will be the spring song. The sun will be shining and the sky will be blue. :)