"You're not planning to go to the lighthouse, are you, Lily."

March 14, 2017 8:48 AM

Lighthouses engulfed in ice
posted by thatwhichfalls (13 comments total)

11:55, almost midnight. Enough time for one more story. One more story before 12:00, just to keep us warm. In five minutes, it will be the 21st of April. One hundred years ago on the 21st of April, out in the waters around Spivey Point, a small clipper ship drew toward land. Suddenly, out of the night, the fog rolled in. For a moment, they could see nothing, not a foot in front of them. Then, they saw a light. By God, it was a fire burning on the shore, strong enough to penetrate the swirling mist. They steered a course toward the light. But it was a campfire, like this one. The ship crashed against the rocks, the hull sheared in two, masts snapped like a twig. The wreckage sank, with all the men aboard. At the bottom of the sea, lay the Elizabeth Dane, with her crew, their lungs filled with salt water, their eyes open, staring to the darkness. And above, as suddenly as it come, the fog lifted, receded back across the ocean and never came again. But it is told by the fishermen, and their fathers and grandfathers, that when the fog returns to Antonio Bay, the men at the bottom of the sea, out in the water by Spivey Point will rise up and search for the campfire that led them to their dark, icy death.

[bells ring distantly]

12:00, the 21st of April.
posted by filthy light thief at 8:53 AM on March 14, 2017 [6 favorites]

Brrrrrrrrrr!
posted by BlueHorse at 8:59 AM on March 14, 2017

Eleum Loyce is lovely this time of year.
posted by prize bull octorok at 9:13 AM on March 14, 2017 [1 favorite]

What happens when near-frozen water is blown through a fence, why you should turn off your sprinklers when it's just below freezing, and other random, related icy images. Bonus: Another wind-blown ice sculpture on a lake or river.
posted by filthy light thief at 9:19 AM on March 14, 2017 [5 favorites]

I love looking at these from down here in Texas. Seems like an impossible amount of ice.

Also, thanks for the Woolf title. That alone was enough to put me in a much better headspace.
posted by stirred for a bird at 9:39 AM on March 14, 2017 [1 favorite]

The people of Fairbanks, Alaska don't let the lack of a lighthouse get in the way of a nice ice tower.
posted by penguinicity at 9:53 AM on March 14, 2017 [1 favorite]

This is happening in Western New York right now.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 10:12 AM on March 14, 2017 [3 favorites]

They all look like Cthulhu.


Hmmmmm...
posted by Splunge at 10:47 AM on March 14, 2017 [1 favorite]

How does the extra weight not destroy the construction? Or are they reinforced in anticipation of ice?
posted by AFABulous at 10:52 AM on March 14, 2017

The thing that caught my eye is how much of the ice is distinctly beige. Apparently the lake water is not particularly clean.
posted by Bruce H. at 11:31 AM on March 14, 2017

"'But,' said his father, stopping in front of the drawing-room window, 'it won’t be fine.'

Had there been an axe handy, a poker, or any weapon that would have gashed a hole in his father’s breast and killed him, there and then, James would have seized it."
posted by exlotuseater at 2:05 PM on March 14, 2017

There's always a lighthouse.
posted by papercake at 2:10 PM on March 14, 2017 [1 favorite]

Absolutely transfixed. But then, I came across this terrifying image, which displays a pretty shocking lack of situational awareness.

It's probably not a great plan to allow or encourage children to stand underneath many tons of frozen and falling death-icicles; while you frame the perfect image.

Water is heavy. Don't ever go anywhere under that shit, people.
posted by PareidoliaticBoy at 10:59 PM on March 14, 2017