July 9, 2011 Frozen air bubbles

[sandypossum]

f she cracks she bears, if she bends she breaks
(line from a classic horror story)

Being your average Aussie, I know little about ice. My first winter in Holland, when the canal outside our farm froze we walked onto it, and it went CRAAAAACK! I went EEEEEEK! and all the Dutchies went, "oh, that's good. Good ice." I said "fuff that!" (or something like that) and went back inside the house. My Dutch sweetie's father asked me how the ice was and I described it, including the CRAAAAAAACK! and he said ""oh, that's good. Good ice." Yeah, right.

A few years later, still in Holland, we were on a frozen lake - Dutch sweetie on skates, me on a converted sled (wrapped in blankies and carrying the thermos and cake... as I can't skate) and he was pushing me along when it went CRAAAAAACK! in all directions, in a star pattern with me in the middle. He said "oooh, that's not good" and we headed back. So there is CRAAAAAACK! and then there's CRAAAAAACK!

Not all crack is good ice it would seem.