Tuesday, February 25, 2014

A Thin Coat of Icing

Just when I really wanted to complain one more time about the harsh winter we're enduring this year, Larry and I found ourselves on the highway recently, oohing and ahhing about the beautiful layer of hoarfrost that delicately covered every branch and blade of tall grass in our sight. It looked like a thin coat of icing or frosting on every surface. I am admittedly a spring sort of person. I can't wait for the snow to give way to grass and the gentle shades of green that will make themselves known, but I just couldn't get over the beauty of the hoarfrost that day. Everything has to be just right in order for hoarfrost to form, which seems to be a miracle unto itself.  According to the online Encyclopaedia Brittanica, hoarfrost are ice crystals deposited onto objects that are exposed to the air. Hoarfrost "is formed by direct condensation of water vapour to ice at temperatures below freezing and occurs when air is brought to its frost point by cooling."  Moisture is the key to the formation of hoarfrost, in that if you don't have enough moisture in the air, the hoarfrost can't form.  I'm still ready for spring, but in the meantime, I was reminded on that highway ride to stop, pause and take in the beauty that nature provides every day.

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