CHILLING THOUGHTS

Just thought with July's higher temperatures, you might need a “cool-down”--thus a photo taken half a year ago in the midst of a January freeze. Brr—probably you don't want to stand under this collection that I spotted across our back fence. Though not lethal, these pointy ice structures could bruise. And what a good picture of human character that would rather stab than heal.

I'm not a great fan of Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), whose many connections included the Transcendental movement, which rejected the Christian view of God. But this Emerson quote surely lines up with the Biblical observation that “whatever a man sows, that will he also reap” (Galatians 6:7-9). Emerson's quote, very similar:

Sow an act and you reap a habit. Sow a habit and you reap a character. Sow a character and you reap a destiny.

In other words ,your choices can have the potential for long-range consequences that may outlive you.

To relate that to real icicles, given the right conditions, every accumulating drip “grows” the product. In 2017, an icicle 30 meters long and 15 meters wide (think: about 90 feet long and five feet wide) was found in a remote area of northwest China. You wouldn't want to stand under, or near, one like that. Even medium-size ones can threaten. Some winters in my town, I noticed wooden construction “horses” cordoning off a dangerous icicle by a business building.

But in everyday actions and words, we have the potential to be—or not to be—icicle people. That term fits folks who threaten others with icy verbal or behavioral jabs. And they wonder why people within range keep their social distance!

Okay, I'm guilty of breaking off real growing icicles that grow off our roof in winter. No damage done, in fact damage prevented before they grew big enough, say, to bend or break a rain gutter. And their potential to damage often reminds me of the human analogy of how “spiked words” (=mean, accusing, lying) can wound deeper than the speaker realizes.

By the way, I still remember my childhood task (2^nd grade?) of learning to spell “icicle.” It simply looked funny, all those “same” letters. I wanted to pronounce it ICK ICK LEE. My mother (probably) helped me see the music of the spelled out version: I SEE I SEE ELLY. I've never had a problem since!