The woods were humming with youth today. It is day two of their competition and all the kids were very busy working. There are twenty one person teams and seven two person teams. Most of the blocks had their designs on them, ironed or glued on. The hand carving has begun with an assist from several of the professional ice carvers on hand. A couple of them were cutting with chainsaws where they were told to cut by the owners of the blocks. When asked, one of the instructors commented that there were no injuries so far. Let’s keep it that way.

The young carvers have come up with names for their sculptures. It’s always such fun to see a finished piece and see how the name connects with the artist’s imagination. There are names such as “My Cat”, “The Forgotten Faith”, “Dreaming Dragon” and “The Snail”. Now I’ll have to see this one when it is complete: “Uniscorpishrimmpicorn with a Mohawk.” Any ideas out there? It’s amazing how a common ice cube can become a fragile, delicate jewel with titles that sometime defy the imagination