The mysterious smoking rock piles

I don't remember if I've mentioned the smoking gravel piles in past entries, but it's gotten cold again, -20, and the gravel pit is smoking, as it is wont to do at that temperature.

I don't know what causes it. I have a theory, but it's hard to believe it could actually DO this. Basically, certain points on the piles of rock tailings in the gravel pit have plumes of steam coming up from them. I climbed up on one of the rock piles for a closer look today, and where the steam is coming up, the snow is melted in a hole that goes all the way down to bare rocks. The rocks are damp, but not freezing, and similarly, the moss on the rocks is wet but not frozen. When I put my hand in there, it's cold but not nearly as cold as the surrounding air.

My theory (actually, a theory suggested by the previous owners of the house) is that it's caused by water percolating through the gravel. Open, unfrozen water steams in extreme cold, and it is possible that the relative warmth from the moving water works its way up through the loose rocks and comes out the top. The plumes of steam are always in the same places and only show up when it gets really cold.

Orion suggested that it's also possible the steam plumes are from underground colonies of mammals, such as voles.

It's still weird. I tried to take a picture of it, but you really can't see the steam at all.

( Pictures of that and the winter wonderland behind cut )

Kismet snippets

This weekend has been entirely spent working on Kismet pages. I'm not as far along as one might hope, but I've made large inroads on December's HM updates, anyway. I can spend the rest of the week working on my RC commissions without guilt.

( A couple of generally non-spoilerish panels )