AIR UNDER ICE MAKES FOR INTERESTING SIGHT

I got so caught up in the bubble movements under the ice designs yesterday, that I didn't think about how the air and water had worked together to sculpt the ice.

Ice covered the creek except where mini-waterfalls tumbled over rocks. Movements under a tear-drop shaped hole caught my attention: The air pocket waved as it lengthened and shortened, widened and narrowed. The water current pulled air under from every hole. Large and small bubbles slipped about under the ice table. Longer bubbles slithered along, conforming to the contours of the water.

Even as I drew, I could see the amount of air expanding from the tear-drop hole and shaping tiers in the ice. Occasionally the bubble divided, circled and re-attached. I didn't realize until later that the air pockets grew larger as the water level gradually dropped.

Curiosity pulls me back to Whispering Hills this morning to check changes since yesterday. Some bubbles moving below the ice join forces, while others divide. They have no choice but to continue moving until the current either traps them or they find and escape.

Many round and oval bubbles are frozen in place. I can't tell if all of them are frozen underneath or not. The ice seals them if they are trapped in calmer water and no more air joins in. Only the patterns connected to holes continuously grow. At certain angles the bubbles swim with prismatic results. Tiny bubbles form when large air pockets slip over rocks and meet turbulence at the bottom.

Two trapped sluggish bubbles continue nudging each other without merging. Resigned to their fate, they squeeze in beside others already trapped in the ice but not completely enclosed. The two squirm back and forth. One repeatedly bumps its neighbor which is locked in position by a half ring of ice.

A flock of northern juncos comes in fro a drink. The trees creak and clatter in protest as the wind forces its way over the hills. The sun peeks out, and the bubbles scatter its reflections.

A mound of ice traps fa frantic bubble where the water is swifter. Small bubbles break away, only to become trapped inches below where they circle in the current. The frantic bubble continues to shrink until none is left. Another bubble comes in, does a quick inspection and hurries out.

The half-frozen bubble from a few minutes ago now has a solid ring. the other two have slipped away.

The current pulls or pushes the newly-locked bubble outside its new shell and replaces it with water. The air bumps against its shell but can't get back in.

This could sound philosophical if I tried.

Do the bubbles want to be freed or do they want to be preserved for the life of the ice?

Kathy Phelps is a freelance nature writer who resides in Harrisburg, Ill.