Before going out to walk, I looked at two thermometers. The one on the deck showed it was just above freezing, while the one on the back porch proclaimed it was just below freezing. Maybe I should check what the birds were dealing with. From the top, the birdbath didn’t look bad.
Here is a selfie of the ice and my hand.
Taking the ice out of its mold, I set it on the railing. Can you see the round hole in the top where I poured in very hot tap water?
On a hunch that the underside would be interesting, I turned the mold over. There seem to be strands of ice from the rocks to the surface, working to tie them in firmly. When I showed grandson David the photos, it occurred to me that the rocks were poking above the water. I have little scientific knowledge, but I wonder if the rocks were colder than the water. That could explain why there was extra ice attached to them.
Ice couldn’t argue with Spring sunshine. When I thought to check on the rocks three hours later, they were dry, though sitting on damp wood.
Mehrling Muse 
I love the different ways nature forms art. Both sides of the ice sculpture are unique.
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I never thought to look under the ice before.
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Whoa, that sounds like a line that needs to be in a poem or a story…or a country western song. 🙂
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You are welcome to the line. I’m through with it. You probably have a lot more imagination than I do.
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I will credit you as co-author.
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Not necessary, I assure you. My words are free and easy.
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What you have here is an excellent example of what happens in Death Valley at “The Devil’s Racetrack” Anne!
If you are not familiar with this, here is a brief description.
Rocks have been moving mysteriously for many years on this desert playa (very flat area). Nobody has witnessed the rocks moving and could not figure why?
Two brothers (Norris) decided to investigate. They found out that the rocks moved when the playa flooded and froze
encapsulating the rocks. Then the wind moved the ice dragging the rocks along inside its mass.
The ice melted showing the trails in the playa and creating this mystery.
https://www.nps.gov/deva/planyourvisit/the-racetrack.htm
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I really am amazed at what I can learn from fellow bloggers. Thank you for this.
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I went to visit this place 10 years ago. Very strange place and at the time the theory was slightly different. They thought that it rained and froze at night making it at skating rink and then the winds moved the rocks but that new theory I just heard a few days ago makes more sense that the rocks were frozen into sheets of ice. The wind moved those sheets like a sail!
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here is the video showing what is going on JB
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Wow! Mystery solved! That was very interesting.
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and all because you took pictures of those rocks frozen in ice! One thing leads to another they say.
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you might want to watch this Anne.
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Interesting observation. Glad you had some sunshine to melt the ice away. 🙂
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I ate lunch on the screened porch, and now I’m putting on a heavy sweater inside the house
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This time of year we have to be ready for any type of weather.
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Why I would say – Rock on! I do love ice. Chris
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That’s so cool looking
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Our last hike took us down a ravine to the waterfall. On the top it was warm enough to abandon our jackets. By the waterfall we saw rocks with that same ice crusting. Amazing to look at isn’t it?
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The bottom of the ice reminds me of years ago as I can remember my mom defrosting the freezer – it would start to get those wacky looking crystals and she’d say “time to do it before it gets much worse” and she’d put the pot of hot water in the freezer. Thank goodness for frost-free freezers … look at all the time we save.
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I hope your observation will make me look at the frost at our little freezer in the garage in a different light. I tend to resent having to defrost it, even though it isn’t as onerous as I think. Your mom had the right idea — time to do it — and follow through.
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I remember her doing that job and gritting her teeth over it … those “icescapes” in the freezer.
Hopefully the technology of freezers has improved from those days.
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Our freezer is quite small, so it doesn’t take long for hot water to loosen all the ice.
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We had a tiny freezer in the basement so my mom didn’t have to go meat shopping in the Winter and we had all our shelf stable products, cans, etc., so I just went for bread and milk in the Winter. But something happened to it and a leak and didn’t work. They wanted a lot to repair it and cheaper to get a new one, which we never did. Now use it for storage.
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That’s was very interesting. So nice experiment on snow. I like.
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The ice viewed from the under side was interesting.
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Yes, I like.đź‘Ś
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I am surprised that you didn’t smash it!!! Haha!
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My toes cringed at the idea of three heavy stones landing near them. I put the whole frozen block on the deck to die quietly.
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