We are down to the wire now. There are less than two days to go in the Multi-Block competition. Random thoughts once again came to mind while walking through the snowy woods today. My first thought was how quiet, yet busy, the woods are. Artists are fine tuning now and using finer, smaller and lighter tools, not the big noisy ones. Many of the artists are standing on scaffolding as their competition entries take on height. All this activity led to a second thought. I am in awe to think how these final graceful and ethereal structures all started as nine separate bulky blocks of ice.

Heartwarming and inspirational stories about the carvers are being told and retold. One team is sharing tools with another team. One team member stopped his carving long enough to autograph a picture for a guest. At least two of the sculptures are a memorial to others. Often a carving will develop a severe stress crack causing the ice to shatter. Instead of despairing, one team picked up the shattered pieces of ice and began incorporating the shards back onto the remaining sculpture. You can feel the love and emotion that goes into every piece of ice being carved.

There is also a strong sense of camaraderie among all the volunteers who work long hours to make the ice carving championships successful and revered around the world. They really come together to work as a family.

Your “oh by the way” for today. I watched a volunteer today carving a “Whirly”, also known as a Spinner. Think of the Mad Hatter’s tea cups at Disneyworld. These teacups are made of ice and spin around very fast. The kids are delighted as they climb in and are pushed and twirled around at dizzying speeds.

Come back tomorrow for some more random thoughts on the last dizzyingly fast push to the finish of the Multi-Block Competition at the World Ice Art Championships.