While walking through the woods today the first word that popped into my head was chaos, complete disorder and confusion. There were chopped up pieces of ice lying about, carvers huddled around some of them, trying to lift them. In other spots, the carvers were perched atop a piece of ice drawing designs. I watched one carver actually ironing a design onto his ice. One carver was spraying water all over his block. Chaos. Yet, as I continued my walk about, another phrase came to me: order out of chaos. Each team was completely within their designated area, all busy and bustling with a purpose. It wasn’t chaotic at all. Some of the ice is beginning to take shape.

It’s kind of fun imaging what all these sculptures will look like as finished masterpieces, nine separate blocks of ice becoming one adhesive sculpture. All the teams have names for their entries in the competition, which again play with your imagination. How will the finished product relate to its name? What can you imagine with names such as: Faith and Fury, White Ice, Not Forgotten, Momma’s Nest, Who’s the Beast, Temple of Guardian, The Heart of the Guardian and Judgement Day? Each day, as we see progress, the names will live up to all this chaotic ice.

Visitors to the park wander around amidst all this activity, taking pictures of the works in progress, marveling at the energy of all these artists. They don’t phase the workers at all. What does make the teams stop and take notice is a small group of volunteers going from site to site pulling a wagon loaded with coffee, tea, hot chocolate and cookies. Kudos to these volunteers who provide a warm drink and a snack with an energy boost.

By the way, here is a tip shared with me by a photography friend: camera batteries don’t like negative temperatures and have a very brief life. If you wrap the battery section of your camera with a toe warmer, your battery stays nice and warm and will last much longer. (toes and hands appreciate the warmers also).