Can contrasting elements combine to create the most exciting and unexpected outcomes? Absolutely! This was certainly the case for me on a late November Sunday, when warm sunshine and cold ice came together for one of my most memorable afternoons of the year. With the temperature a comfortable 50°F, many Chicagoans were enjoying skating at Chicago's Millennium Park, where the ice rink is free and open to the public. For me, experiencing the day with my niece Klava, it was a good demonstration of the saying, "The best things in life are free."
 
I thought about the contrast between sun and ice, and also in ice itself. The whole concept of ice amazes me; shapeless, flexible, flowing water, after a small temperature change, becomes a surface that is hard (especially when you fall), sharp (have you ever had an ice cut?) and supportive (enough to resist the sharp blades of ice skates). Snow presents its own contrasts. Packed into towering banks, it can bring a city to a standstill, holding up transportation and canceling important events. Yet, individual snowflakes melt almost instantly if you catch them in your hand, and their crystalline beauty awes us all.
 
Many times, amazing things happen when contrasting elements work together like sun and ice, one calling into focus the qualities of the other... Read more