Ahh! You can tell that Spring is here by the sound
of melting ice and snow, that drip, drip, drip. But have you ever
stopped to watch the process?

As the warm air loosens a thin layer of water from the ice,
Gravity pulls it together into a drop. That drop acts just like
a glass lens, bending the light coming through it until the image
is inverted, turning the world beyond upside down.

As the drop gets bigger and heavier, gravity gradually
overcomes the strength of the surface tension in the water.
The water stretches and finally breaks… the drop falls off.
As the drop falls as a ball of water, the stretched column snaps
back, sending a shockwave up the column. The crest and troughs
of the wave create bulged and pinched areas in the column.
Eventually it separates into tiny drops like beads in a pull-chain.