One morning just before New Year Eve, john looked out at the small pond and was startled to see a vertical column of ice about 5 inches in diameter and 3 feet tall! He at first couldn't figure out how it was formed, but then realized that the air pump had pushed water over a frozen crater which just got taller and taller. It was like blowing water through a soda straw which would then freeze at the end. The "ice straw" was indeed hollow in the middle when john inspected it closely.

A second ice straw formed the next night, but was only about half as high as the first one. That was the last straw...at least so far.