Trina Machacek: Lifecycle of an ice cube

It’s hot and going to get hotter as the sun climbs up the sky. Iced tea is the drink of the day. A calm, cool, bronze liquid that is sure to refresh and bring about an “AH!” that I would guess will soothe the soul.

Well guess again. Here’s the thought process. As if you thought I wouldn’t have a thought to process. There are very few life shattering experiences in any one of us. That is the good news. Then there are days where life shatters and soon enough we pick up our spilled marbles, put them back in the sack and go on.

Those are the two extremes that could mark life. We can go from “Ah” to picking up our spilled marbles. But. Yes, a marbled “but.” Most days will find us balancing on the wire of life. Wearing some of those little foot fitted shoes that let you feel the thin wire of life.

As we stand on it balancing all the marbles in our lives. Ah, all balanced and in order. Well, this day, this hot day when iced tea was called for, I thought all was right in my world. Then I noticed something I was doing. I put ice and tea and some sugar, OK fake sugar in the glass and began stirring.

Alone standing in the kitchen just stirring that glass of tea. Stir. Stir. Then the stirring for some reason got faster and, well angrier. I wasn’t aware that I was harboring feeling of angst. But those poor little ice cubes were really taking a beating.

I just kept spinning that frozen water around in the aluminum cup. Oh, and while we are here, when did I come to need to use the same cup all the time? Have we all gotten to need our own cup, like a sippy cup or pacifier? Swallow and move on, Trina.

The lifecycle of an ice cube really is quite a journey if you stop and consider all the things that ice is used for and all the things we expect it to do for us. I mean just imagine if you were splashed into a glass and stirred around, banging all your parts against the sides of the glass. It’s a bit like life.

We are born into a calm life and suddenly as we mature things go in so many different directions, then we melt into oblivion. Cubes come out of trays or ice makers and are plopped into a nice, calm, albeit cold, world.

The cubes are just lying there all resting and happy little frozen globs. Until needed, then life begins in earnest. Ice is a very personal choice. There are the little cubes that are usually seen in any mixed drink from a bar.

Crushed ice is something that not many places have. But if you are like me, you know which fast-food windows use crushed ice. Then you can get various cubes. Some are round, or oblong cubes with a hole through them.

My ice maker makes half-moon shaped cubes. I am not a fan of them, but I like that I have an ice maker. I remember trying to get a full ice cube tray of water from the sink in the freezer. As I get older and I have to think before I even take a step, that trip across the kitchen with water swishing would become interesting.

I don’t have enough paper towels to do that again! Recently I have been making iced coffee for myself, a pot at a time. That takes a couple of handfuls of cubes in the pitcher to cool it down when you add the hot coffee to the cold milk. Those ice cubes have a lifespan of about two minutes. Other times ice can take forever to melt.

I have a friend who taught me to place ice cubes in my plants. The thought is that the ice will melt slowly and give the water time to really soak into the soil and water the plant wonderfully.

Not like dumping in a glass and hoping the plant sucks up water swooshing by on the way to the tray sitting under the plant to catch any escaping water. Plant ice cubes have a lifespan that could be as long as three or four hours.

Then there is the discussion about how wonderful, bagged ice is. I buy ice from the gas station in town sometimes. That’s “town ice.” Town ice is filtered and clear and special. If you want to give yourself a little lift, buy town ice occasionally. Life can be like ice. To live long, keep cool.

Trina Machacek lives in Diamond Valley north of Eureka. Email itybytrina@yahoo.com.