frost
At the moment we have snow again. Not the deep, white, Alpine glory of December’s snow, but a couple of inches of mucky stuff that turns into drizzle by day and freezes by night, thus managing to be both slushy and icy. This winter I have finally understood why the Inuit, according to myth, would have so many words for snow.
walking the dogs in the sleet - not as much fun as it looks
Sleet and mush is not very picturesque (and the camera doesn’t like getting wet – hence the photo above being taken from under the branches). A couple of weeks or so ago, though, we had several days of hard frost. As the ice crystals grew day by day, I had a lovely time with my camera, trying to capture some of the frost’s transient, multiform wonders. Here are a few of them.
frosted bracken
'needles' of frost growing on dead flower stalks in the garden
'petals' of frost growing on iced-over gravel
and finally,
frost patterns on the window of the old Land Rover
What intrigues me is that these were all taken on the same morning. Truly, nature is endlessly fascinating. I don’t know about you, but these images make me want to run for my sketch book and pencils to try to draw them – especially that bracken. However, I’m off to make family supper instead. Duty calls!
I love these photos, especially the last one. It looks like someone painted it and the colours are stunning. And yes I agree, the right snow is wonderful, the rest horrid, we had slush which rapidly turned icy here last week and it was no fun.
I think we’ve all had about enough now, North America at least as much as us! Though having said that, I’m always happy to have more proper white stuff.
Your comment made me look again at the ‘window’ picture and you’re right, it does look painted. Or a bit like some expensive silk damask. Yet it’s just frozen water on a grotty old window – wonderful!
I live in southern California and rarely see such frozen beauty. On a trip last winter to the high country in New Mexico I was mesmerized by frost like this and took many photos of frosty leaves on the ground similar to your bracken. The locals thought I was nuts, but I was astounded by what frozen water can make.
Thank you for sharing your glorious photos.
My pleasure, thank you. I’m sure people here think I’m daft too sometimes, the things I stop to photograph. But I agree, ice is astonishing stuff.
There were photos in the papers here a few days ago of snow in Mexico – unimaginable!
The bracken is amazing! Endlessly fascinated by all the different formations of snow and ice. Have you read Miss Smilla’s Feeling for Snow by Peter Hoeg? Brilliant book in which the protagonist is half Inuit and has a vast knowledge about snow.
Ooh, no, I haven’t, and maybe I should give it a go. I read something else by him and it put me off – can’t remember what it was now – but I like the sound of this.
By the way, you wrote my thousandth comment! Thank you!
I LOVE frosty weather and those photos are glorious. I echo other comments here – yes the last one does look like a delicate painting, or “frosted glass”! I remember as a child waking up on frosty morning to see such patters on the inside of my bedroom window. Brrrr – pre “central-heating” day!
Hah, yes – we still get ice patterns on our bedroom windows sometimes – when the boiler’s broken down and there’s a really cold snap (the two conditions almost invariably coincide)!
Such beautiful pictures – I think frost is facinating.
take care,
Nina x
The pictures are so beautiful with details of nature’s beauties.
Thank you, Nina, and thank you, Natalie. I’m just lucky enough to be here with my camera to share this beauty.