This morning was even colder than yesterday.
When I checked the thermometer around seven,
it read minus sixteen degrees.
Spring, with its plus sixteen degrees, still feels far away.

By midday, perhaps it rose to around zero.
There was no wind, and the sunlight was gentle,
so it felt warmer than I expected.
The idea that “zero degrees feels warm”
is already a little strange.

On days this cold,
I do something that can only be done in the cold.

I pour water into silicone cake molds,
add flowers and leaves,
and simply leave them outside.
After a night,
cake-shaped blocks of ice are formed.

When the light hits them,
what’s sealed inside becomes translucent,
sparkling softly.
It’s beautiful in a quiet, indescribable way.

Inside, I placed
carrot leaves,
the red berries of senryō,
dried hydrangea paniculata flowers,
and a tiny flower whose name I don’t know.

There are no flowers left in the garden this season.
If I could make them with fresh flowers,
they would surely be even lovelier.

Of course, the same thing could be made
by putting them in the freezer,
but that would be something different.

This is something special,
possible only when the cold is severe.

Not meant to be shown to anyone,
and not useful in any way.

Just a small pleasure
in the depths of a bitter winter.

The light inside the ice
seems to be smiling softly.

Click here to see the post when the ice candle holders were made.