Hoarfrost is a beautiful, delicate, and dense phenomena. Britannica defines it as: “deposit of ice crystals on objects exposed to the free air, such as grass blades, tree branches, or leaves. It 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.”

Heavy fog has greeted me the last three mornings when I set out on my run. I came back coated in frost as well. The fence wires and pine needles were sagging under the weight of that hoarfrost. Cattle and horse hair and whiskers are white with it as well. It turned the world into a bright white outline, like everything was built from stiff white crystals.

The little apple tree was coated, and the Christmas lights made rainbows of color all through the jolly branches. It is cold, sure, but oh so striking.