Fire, Ice and a Little Je Ne Sais Quoi

Yeah, it’s a thing in Canada, in the winter months.

Fire and Ice

Stand a little bit closer and you’ll be able to imagine warming your hands...(wink, wink.)

The smell of the burning wood is smoky and sweet.

A winter bonfire’s aroma seems to linger a little longer in the frigid air, than a summer bonfire’s does.

A winter bonfire is a different experience altogether.

Generally people consume cold beverages around a summer bonfire and if you’re drinking around a winter one, you’re likely to be handed a piping hot mug of Canadian champagne.

Canadian champagne is made by mixing whiskey and hard apple cider together and then heating it. The beverage is served hot and often, whole stick of cinnamon are simmered with the brew for some additional spicy heat.

It warms a person from the inside out.

The carving (in the photo above) is in wood. It depicts a French Canadian man (or early French Canadian pioneer). He’s carrying an axe over his shoulder.

He isn’t wearing winter dress, so it seems odd to see the carving standing in the snow.

In the winter, this man would’ve worn lots of furs over top of what he has been depicted as wearing.

Felling trees and trapping beavers (for their fur) was how this man would have spent his life.

Ultimately these men worked for the country of France and her shipping companies. The resources that they harvested were sent back to Europe. It was a hard life. Many perished but some survived.

The ones who did, settled and put down roots in a new land, which would later become the country of Canada.

Many of the early European pioneers had children with Indigenous women who already called this land, their home.

It is this lineage that created our Métis population and it’s one of the reasons why 1 in 4 Canadians are recognized today, as being indigenous.

The winters are always long in Canada, it seems.

The snow is deep. When the snow and ice thaw through the course of a day (as the sun warms it) long spears of ice form and we call those formations: icicles.

You can see a small cluster of icicles just to the left of the window in the photo (above).

Icicles can become massive and if they aren’t managed, can be very destructive.

If a long heavy icicle breaks free from a roof’s eavestrough, it can impale and smash anything that it hits on its plummet to the ground.

Ice, just like fire can be equally as destructive and equally as beautiful.

In the photo (above) you can see a small block of lit ice.

It has multiple silhouettes of penguins carved and painted in different colours on it.

Lighting ice art definitely changes the viewing experience and it’s even more magical to view at night.

Ice sculptures and art made out of ice are temporary marvels for the eye.
You must take the time to appreciate them upon immediate discovery because they’re only meant to last at their peak (aesthetically) for a few days.

May you be able to take the time to enjoy art and different cultures as you discover them.

Life is all about the experience.

~ Rebecca