Gradations of Ice

I was mocked yesterday by my housemate. While this is not such an unusual circumstance in and of itself, the conversation was entertaining. She warned me it would be icy when I got out of the car. I saw the ice and made a mental note of it. When I put my foot down however (in Burks with no grip whatsoever) I was astonished at how slippery it was. I had expected ice to be there. I really had. I had simply assumed it would be more like spring ice and less like excellent ice rink ice. I hope I'm still making sense at this point.

Sarah mocking me came after, when I seemed shocked by how icy it was. She had, after all, warned me. My attempt to explain degrees of iciness was met with the reply that icy is icy. And it will be slippery. I'm in agreement with part of that. Ice is indeed ice, but it's not always slippery.

In life there are always levels of iciness whether you are aware of them or not. As you walk the path of your life (both literal and spiritual), there will be places where there is no ice. The ground beckons at you and you can walk with the awareness that you won't suddenlt slip. There will be places of almost ice, the kind that shimmer on the ground, wanting to become ice, but not something to get in your way. The patches of thin ice look intimidating, but they can never really pull it off. It cracks beneath your feet, not able to hinder your step, even though it may seem that it shoudl require calculated movement. Grainy ice seems quite frightening, but provides more of a grip and a better foot hold than anything else. Sheet ice is the fantastic phenomenon that requires you either glide (and look graceful while doing it) or step carefully. There are 3 major problems with stepping carefully though. It makes getting anywhere exceedingly slow, you are always careful, and every once in awhile, your feet just get yanked out from underneath you.

These forms of ice are predictable though. You can see them and know how to react to them, either with a spirit of cautioness, or one of carefreeness. The hardest form of ice though is black ice. This is unpredictable and blindsides everyone at some point. It can knock your feet out from under you and spin you off the road. There is no amount of wind-milling that will keep you on your feet. The great part is that you can get back up and find your sense of balance once again.

So ice is really not just ice. It's more of a form of adventure.