Normally on Wednesday I’m quiet, but I have a winter mystery and I’d like your thoughts.
Last Saturday while doing morning chores, I noticed a glimmer of something in the snow behind the chicken run. As I got closer I saw that it was a piece of ice. Not an icicle, but this very thin piece of clear ice stuck in the snow.
Icicles do not form on the barn roof. There is no ice on the chicken run.
I know it is a piece of ice, but the most unusual shape I’ve ever seen in the yard sticking out of the middle of a snow bank. It looked like half of the bottom of a bottle the way it was curved.
For the life of me, I can’t figure it out.
Any thoughts?
“Well isn’t that special?” (read that in the tone of the SNL “Church Lady!”) But seriously, with the onslaught of this crazy weather, who knows? I saw on the news last week that there was a rain of some whitish milk-like substance somewhere in the US. So your find doesn’t surprise me one bit! I hope someone can help you solve this mystery. I am very curious too!
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Oh my gosh, I loved the Church Lady. 🙂 I looked at it, went back and looked some more, and then went and got the camera. I just could not figure out what in the world it was or why it was there.
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OK, I’ve had more experience this year than I’ve wanted with icicles and ice in general and here’s my wild guess–a piece of ice from the roof or inside the gutter which got blown off/onto the ground? Either way, at least you weren’t underneath when it fell! (Second wild guess– Santa was really running late this year and it fell off his sleigh as he passed overhead.)
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I’m going with Santa’s sleigh because it made me smile and laugh. The first explanation makes too much sense. 🙂
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Having worked around airplanes for a very long time, I would guess you might be the recipient of an “overflow tube”. (Remember in the old days when the train lavatories said “Don’t flush in station”??)
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Oh, Mary, I love it. I’m sitting here laughing myself silly. 🙂
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If it WAS toilet water it would be BLUE…. but there are other overflow tube for condensation
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When it gets icy cold in Colorado, ice often forms on our roof around the attic vent. When steam rises from the vent, it melts the chunks of ice just enough for massive pieces to break off and slide down from the roof and shatter on our deck. The first time I heard the “whoooosh” as the ice slid then CRASH on the deck, it scared the heck out of me. We’ve learned to keep the dogs inside when that happens. Occasionally the pieces are big and flat like that… before the crash and break. Perhaps the soft landing of the snow kept your special chunk from breaking.
???
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That’s really interesting and certainly makes sense. Thank you, fellow cold-winter person. 🙂
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Or…..It could have shot out of that downspout on the left side of the first photo. There is an interesting angle on the downspout. Maybe water was dripping into the spout on a sunny day and refroze. Next sunny day the spout warmed up enought to release the ice. Curve on the spout might be similar to the spouts curve. Just a thought. Much nicer than my earlier idea…
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Okay, that’s an interesting take. That spout is used to deflect water into the rain barrels in the summer. 🙂
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I think that you should bring it into the house and watch it melt. If it turns into something scary and green with slanted eyes RUN as you’ll know it is an alien life form…..
MUHAHAHAHAHAHABOO!
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Funny. I’m going going back out there and look to see if it’s there. LOL
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I love all the answers but who could top Deb’s alien theory!
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Only she would come up with that. LOL Like an idiot I went right outside to see if I could pull it out. I don’t know what I was thinking because it was buried under another foot of snow and there was no way I could find it. 🙂
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Personally, whatever it is/was, I’m just glad it’s in YOUR neck of the woods, not mine! Let us know if you figure it out please!!!
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I am going to agree with @stitchinggrandma. It looks to be about the same shape as the downspout.
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I am baffled.
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With all the strange weather you have at the moment it could be anything but reading your description (curved like the bottom of a bottle) and reading @stitchinggrandma’s explanation I tend to agree with her on this one.
Take care
Cathy
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What a mystery… but can you really get out there? Looks very deep!
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I went back out and there had to be another foot of snow added to where I had taken those photos. I don’t know what I was thinking since we have been getting snow at least every other day. 🙂
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Oh the mysteries of nature…I love everyones guesses. With this crazy winter weather, no telling where it came from.
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melted snow on a tree trunk and then iced again while melting? that would explain the slightly rounded shape, like a branch ‘saddle’? All that snow makes you paranoid like Jack Nicholson in Shining? I hope not…
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