Monday, January 1, 2018

Magic on the Homestead

Joco Hogmanay!  Happy New Year!



Hair Ice at Neverland Homestead


This morning when I went down to the hen yard, I saw something that caught my attention and aroused my curiosity.  It looked like ice, but did not melt when I touched it and it was pliable.  It reminded me of the spun fiberglass we used to call angel hair.

My immediate thought was fungus, since I have mycology on the brain right now.  I took some pictures and then went inside and searched fungus that looks like angel hair.

Search results yielded Hair Ice.


Hair Ice at Neverland Homestead


I clicked on the BBC link and found some beautiful photos of the phenomenon, as well as a description.  What I found interesting is that they describe it as ice.  The Hair Ice I found this morning looked like ice, but did not melt to the touch and acted more like hair, when I moved it and put it back into place.

Even though ice really is a life form to my way of thinking, as water molecules have been proven to have consciousness (and what doesn't?), just in my brief interaction with it, I felt that it was a life form, more along the lines of a fungus.  

Exidiopsis effusa is the fungus which must be present in order for this to occur according to the BBC article.  http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150727-mystical-hair-ice-riddle-solved

Also according to the article, Hair Ice forms at night and then melts when the sun comes up.  Using that observation, it's easy to see how human beings came up with lore about faerie beings as well as those beings' inability to cope with sunlight.  

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