It was bitter cold last night with temperatures approaching the single digits. But the cold brought its own delights in the morning if you looked for them.

A cold, clear morning with a view to the north

Most everything was covered with some form of snow or ice.

Feathers of ice form on an otherwise boring weeds

I could have spent hours trying to get pictures of all the interesting frozen features. You'll just have to settle for these two.

Ice crystals cover a fence wire in the morning sun

Nature never ceases to amaze and I'd think you must agree.

Update: I learned that this crystal phenomenon is Hoarfrost: A deposit of interlocking ice crystals (hoar crystals) formed by direct sublimation on objects, usually those of small diameter freely exposed to the air, such as tree branches, plant stems and leaf edges, wires, poles, etc., which surface is sufficiently cooled, mostly by nocturnal radiation, to cause the direct sublimation of the water vapor contained in the ambient air.

Comments are welcome: don.parks@hotmail.com

Friday, February 29, 2008
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