Fire and Ice

"Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice." from Robert Frost's "Fire and Ice." The image of frost covering the pines in front of Papa's Donuts in Quincy this morning was striking. Despite my shivering in near-zero weather, I had to get out my camera. Those amazing Lithium-ion batteries responded just fine. This was followed by many dazzling, frosty scenes along our drive to school in Greenville, especially the icicle display on Dog Rock near Indian Falls. I'm not sure what triggered the title of this post, but here's my hypothesis:
Last night, my son Ryan was doing one of his experiments in the kitchen when the toaster oven caught fire! While daydreaming during the aforementioned drive to Greenville, the contrasting images and feelings of fire and ice, together with my memory of Robert Frost's poem by that name, were begging for expression. It was so cold and icy in the morning that despite the beautiful images of frost and icicles, it was easy to imagine freezing to death. And, of course, even a minor kitchen fire makes it easy to imagine perishing in a fire. Interesting how beauty and terror can combine.