We've got ourselves some hoar frost!

From what I've been told by the locals around here, we've been having unusually cold temperatures and the snow is sticking around much longer than normal...we've had a blanket of white for nearly two weeks now.   The other day, a friend of mine who is also a California transplant and who has been living in Ada County much longer than I have, told me to "just wait until you see the frozen fog...no, really there is such a thing!"  It was almost as if her words had magic because here I am, a few days later and I've experienced this thing called "frozen fog," and something named frosty hoar...wait, reverse that...hoar frost.  I was mesmerized yesterday when I stepped out of the local Fred Meyer and saw that I was no longer on earth but in someone's glitter globe that had just been shaken.  All around me were sparkling specks floating as if they had no where to go and nothing to do but entertain me.  It was simply breathtaking.  The other shoppers seemed not to notice, grumbling, "geez I can't believe it's snowing AGAIN!"  But it really wasn't snow but the droplets of ground-hugging cloud freezing up in the single-digit temperature and dancing around without a care in the world.  As I drove home, I noticed how each barren branch of every tree in the vicinity was coated in white; a veritable winter wonderland, much like those fake trees of people's porcelain village scenes they put out every Christmas.  I remember having one of those villages and wanting so badly to be able to live in a place where the trees looked sugar-dipped and the snow glistened like pave diamonds.  Now, I do...I live in a most magical place where the seasons enchant me and I look forward to the stark beauty that each winter day brings, even if it's so cold I can only bear to be outside for a fraction of a moment before my fingers and nose and ears start to feel like they are the victim of freezer burn.

And, that was yesterday.

The dense overnight and early morning fog brought even more frosty bounty (or hoar frost as it is known) today.  After getting over my initial glee and doing my little happy dance (nope, no one caught that on YouTube, thank you very much), I grabbed my camera and shot a few pictures so I can better remember this extraordinary moment in my history...

I see an asterisk, actually several of them...do you?

Snow crystals forming on our patio chair...up close, everything is spectacular.  Forget stopping to smell the daisies...we need to stop and look at the beautiful world through a macro lens!

Wispy and wonderful!

Snowflake "peek-a-boo"

The crystalized frozen vapor almost looks like little budding leaves on the end of this pine branch.

The view across the street from the gas station.

Even this large tree did not escape Jack Frost's touch!

I don't know why I think this is amazing, but how many times have you heard of frosty icicles?

A  most unusual shaped crystal.

If you look closely, you can see that even the snowflakes have frost on them.  

Just imagine if the ice on this branch was not so fragile...I'd feel sorry for the birds that would have to land there!