this sheet of ice along the shore of sucker creek had originally frozen tight to the water beneath it, but then it underwent a funny freeze-thaw cycle, that must have involved water droplets forming on the underside of the ice when the weather warmed, then freezing in droplet form, which served as the places where subsequent water droplets chose to drip when the temperature warmed again. on a related topic, which you will not perhaps perceive immediately as related, there is a french cookware company called staub, which is a slightly nerdier version of le creuset. on the underside of the beautifully engineered lids of staub sauce pans and dutch ovens, there are little rounded bumps called “basting spikes,” which focus the condensation from cooking, and drip that moisture evenly back onto the dish that is being cooked. so when i say that my eleven year old son, who is a budding gourmand, took one look at this sheet of ice, and said, “hey, that looks like a staub cocotte,” you will know just how weird, and just how correct, his observation was. i make no apologies, but don’t tell his grandparents.

ice formed at the edge of a creek when temps hovered around freezing

sucker creek, saint paul, minnesota