Friday, April 10, 2020

A to Z Joy: Iris and Icicles

I couldn't choose between these two "I" things today. They're both so beautiful, so iconic in their season, and so relatively short-lived.

Iris is the name of the Greek rainbow goddess, so it is fitting that these flowers come in such a stunning selection of colors. The variety of iris I'm most familiar with is the bearded iris. Big, showy flowers, often with sublime scents, they bloom once every year. Well, apparently, there are now some that bloom twice, but I've not planted any of them. I think I appreciate them more knowing that their time is short.




Basically stalactites of frozen water, icicles always remind me of something from a fairy tale. But I've not seen Frozen--I or II--so I can't speak to whether icicles are well represented by the folks at Disney. Icicles seem so fragile and magical, and yet they can be deadly. On average, fifteen people die in icicle fatalities each year in the United States. (For the record, that does not bring me the least bit of joy.) But every time I see a row of icicles hanging off an eave or gutter, I confess I'm in awe.

icicles | liz west | Flickr
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File:Berkeley Heights library large icicles hanging from roof.JPG ...
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8 comments:

  1. When I was a kid, my mom planted irises all around our house and I loved them. They always remind me of her when I see them.
    Death by icicle sounds absolutely horrible. I remember a book where the antagonist was killed in this way, which actually was very cool, but still . . . yikes.

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    1. I inherited my love of iris from my family, too. And someday I would like to kill off a character using an icicle :-)

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  2. I had no idea there were that many annual deaths from Icicles! That's interesting. I have a new respect for them.

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    1. Don't mess around under those big sharp ones, for sure!

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  3. What lovely photos! Irises are among my favorite flowers. They seem so elegant, nearly aristocratic, and their colors are deep and rich. I confess I don't share your love of icicles, though. I hope your A-Z Challenge goes well, and I'll be back!

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    1. Aristocratic is a perfect description! Thank you for stopping by :-)

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  4. How do so many people die from icicle related incidents? Wow.

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    1. The many perils of winter weather, I guess!

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