Simon St. Laurent (one of the editors of our Arduino Cookbook) brought forth fire and ice to soften this time when the northern hemisphere’s light dims:

In the darkest season of the year, the lights go up.

Every year, Christmas lights go up on houses, trees, shrubs, and lately, all kinds of stands. They go up on my house too, three brilliant sets of LED lights that add up to a mere fifteen watts of power. Some of these displays are massive, some tiny, but nearly all of them are electric reminders of long-ago candles and lamps.

Electric light feels very different from candle light. Even the best electric lights seem frozen in place, or blink and move awkwardly.

I decided this year that I wanted to do something with candles again – something safely outdoors, far from the children and the house, but something beautiful. That brought me back to ice lanterns, something I’d talked about doing years ago…

Living in Dryden: Making beauty out of cold