Frozen in Time
Toby peered over my shoulder as I worked on my latest photo. He said, ‘I remember learning that stalactites come down from the ceiling because there’s a ‘C’ in the word and stalagmites come up from the ground because there’s a ‘G’ in that word. Ergo, those must be stalactites!’
‘Not to burst your bubble’, I told him, ‘but stalactites occur in limestone caves. They form through deposition of calcium carbonate and other minerals, which is precipitated from mineralized water solutions. These are icicles which are formed of frozen water and are definitely not in a cave.’
‘Pshaw’, he said (as he is a fan of archaic lingo). ‘It’s definitely hanging down from the ceiling because the word icicles has a ‘C’ in it!’ He started humming the tune to ‘Ice, Ice Baby’ by Vanilla Ice and I decided it would be best to let him have the last word.
A7riv, SEL100400GM, f5.6, 1/8000sec, iso800
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