Draw of the Ice

For weeks, we’ve had frigid weather in Washington.  This has led to ponds and lakes freezing over.  In turn, there have been several episodes of people and animals who have ventured out onto unsafe ice, ultimately falling through its fragile, frozen surface to the water below.  Thankfully, dramatic rescues have been successful in most cases.

There is a fascination in walking on the frozen surface of a pond or lake for people of all ages.  The surface even draws pets and wildlife into its web.  The ability to stand in a place where the possibility normally does not permit such access has to be the draw.  Could it be that within all of us, human and animal alike, there is an irrefutable urge to experience the new, the unknown or even the dangerous?

I like to think this trait is in the genetic makeup of many creatures, passed down generation after generation leading some of us to the heights of experience, and regrettably at times, others of us into the depths of danger.  Admittedly, the adrenalin rush must be an age-old addiction for so many.  I have to admit my conservative nature usually outweighs these temptations, but the contained urge to explore is still there.

After falling on black ice at home unexpectedly (in a faster fashion than I would have dreamt possible and luckily without injury), I was not pulled onto the frozen surface by Pass Lake’s beauty at Deception Pass State Park on Sunday.  Identified as a “Free Day” for parking, many others were enticed to park and wander out to explore this frozen terrain.  One small boy heaved a large rock above his shoulders and dropped it ceremoniously to the ice, delighting in the echoing sound that reverberated across the ice.  Thankfully the rock bounced about on the ice without breaking through its surface.  Another man flew a drone out over the ice to photograph both the lake, and those playing far from the shore.  Far in the distance, a couple embraced in an illusion of solitude.

Content to watch safely from the shore as the setting sun slid down beyond the surrounding hills, I watched children and adults at play on the mirrored surface without envy.  One man said, “I haven’t seen the lake frozen like this in twenty years!”  I honestly can say that I was glad chance brought me to the lake's shore on this day to vicariously enjoy the draw of an unusual phenomenon.