Are you looking for some cheap winter entertainment? Something fun to do outdoors? Something that you can do when the temperature is in the thirties, with nary a flurry in sight and no snow piled on the ground?
Then you should try Ice Chunk Chunking.
“What is this?” you ask. “Is it really a THING? A new extreme sport, perhaps; or, is it simply a case of a southerner gone ‘mad as a hatter?'”
Now I’m not admitting insanity, but cold like heat can lead to unusual and erratic behavior, especially if you are not used to it. AND I AM NOT USED TO IT! But I’m telling you right now that if Ice Chunk Chunking is not a THING, it should be! Moreover, you should do it.
Here is what you need:
- An Ice Chunk (or a big chunk, slab, hunk, or gob of ice, if you prefer another term)
- A frozen pond, river, stream, creek, or other such body of water (This is necessary. I’ll tell you why in a minute.)
- Time on your hands and a good pair of gloves. (You will be picking up ice with your hands and believe me you’ll want to have them covered.)
- A funny, hand-knitted hat (Because if you are going to look like a fool in front of your neighbors, you should absolutely wear the hat!)
This activity is not simply about cleaving ice and tossing it, well not entirely about cleaving and tossing. It is about the unexpected, the mysterious, the enchanted, the mere magic in the world around us.
Listen.
Did you hear that amazing sound?
Those of you who are accustomed to ice and living life in a deep freezer probably already know about this mesmerizing sound–hollow, reverberating, round-rattling, other-worldly. But for those of us whose life has been mostly lived in warmer climes, it is truly intriguing, an unexpected discovery that all began with two children who felt the uncontrollable urge to touch the ice, shatter it, and skip chunks of it across a frozen pond.
Which reminds me, I promised to tell you why the frozen pond is necessary; but I’m not, because I could never explain it any better than www.livescience.com. Besides, I’m not even sure I understand it myself! But, honestly, I don’t feel the need to; the magic is enough for me.
Leona & Alexander 