Water is what has allowed life to generate and regenerate on this tiny blue marble of ours. Most of us would shrivel up and blow away without a water supply. And yet every year at this time water becomes scarce, surface water anyway. So the question is what happens when that water freezes. Consider for a moment how profound it is when you wake up that morning in December and the temperature is below freezing. It’s a bit of a touchstone, because, barring a thaw, you know the temperature’s not