Sometimes the news media give us moments of whimsy and delight. Last December 22, the weather blog for KOMO News (Seattle, Washington) posted these two photos of an “Old Man Winter” icicle, submitted by a Jeremy Olden from Lake Stevens.
Comments in response to the post quickly turned skeptical about the “naturalness” of this face, which certainly does look carved or molded to me. For once, the comments didn’t devolve into insults or a discussion of something irrelevant. Some of my favorites:
“We should let the Winter old man come in,sit down and have a cup of Cupperchino!”
“I have a lit up santa that we put on the roof. I have a guess…this was on a santa decoration and slid down the roof with the snow and ice. Maybe the homeowner will tell us?”
“That looks like GOD. I saw HIS face in the Cloud once.”
“Stick it in the freezer and put it up for auction? LOL”
Side note: I’m so interested to watch and participate in our collective, slow learning about what the heck comments functions on news sites can be useful for, as they currently function as conduits mostly for oversimplified logic and name-calling. (Ideas, anyone?) In this case, even with the gentle tone of it all, someone felt obliged to post this defensive:
The story of Old Man Winter or Icicle Man is not a story at all but TRUE FACT. I am Jeremy Olden’s fiance and this extraordinary icicle showed up on our back gutter on Sunday morning. Perhaps Saturday’s storm had something to do with it’s creation? Regardless, for those of you that are sceptical or have doubts, rest assured it is completely real and has naturally grown on it’s own. The magic of nature at her best! No photo shop or editing has been done to the photos, nor is Jeremy an ice carver. It’s completely amazing. The Icicle Man still exists and is hanging from our gutter to this day, and we have the proof.
Exclamations aside, proof or no proof, this icicle’s impressive for its size and I’d hate to let my cat walk beneath it.
meg walker 