Watching it leave is a fascinating process. As it comes close to the end of its time on the lake, the ice turns from white to gray, and then to black. Someone said to me, 'oh that's when it starts to sink.' Someone failed basic science. Ice floats.
What gives it that dark colour is the water moving up through the crystals of ice as it starts to pull apart. The crystals lose the integrity of a worthy icefloe, and while they still have some strength in the horizontal plane, they are fragile indeed vertically.
And then, a bit of sun, a bit of wind, a little tiny push from the water below, and just like that... Open Water.Welcome back
It took quite awhile!
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