All that glitters

We've been having cold but clear weather lately – well below freezing at night (averaging about 20F) and no higher than 38F during the day (yesterday it didn't break 28F). This means we're getting some exceptionally heavy frost.

Early mornings, when the sun backlights everything at a low angle, are the most striking.

Even ordinary barbed wire is all dressed up.

In the driveway, the fallen willow leaves are glued to the ground.

Every stalk of grass in the pasture gets lit up.

As do any remaining oak leaves on the lawn.

This glitter will end today as we head into cloudier and warmer weather. Over the next week, high temps are supposed to rise into 40s and even low 50s, and nighttime will be well above freezing. As the saying goes, if you don't like the weather, wait five minutes.

Bonus photos: Full moon rising.

April in January

We are having the weirdest winter so far. It's been so mild that there are times it seems like April in January.

This is our pasture on January 14, for example:

The road in:

Lots of chattering water:

Across the canyon, an ephemeral creek roared as it rushed downhill:

The view across the canyon.

The cows take every opportunity to soak up the sunshine. It hasn't been unusual for temps to hover in the low 40s during the day.

I mean honestly, it's behaving just like April.

The chickadees and nuthatches are everywhere, so we even have birdsong.

Sometimes the temp drops below freezing. Here's some roadside puddles with an interesting ice formation.

And sometimes we'll get hoarfrost that only melts off on the sunny side during the course of a day.

Hoarfrost is fascinating stuff.

But I tell ya, does this look like January?

Now granted, we've gotten some snow. Just not a lot, and it doesn't last.

Chicken tracks. Looks like the writing from Dinotopia, doesn't it?

At last Friday's neighborhood potluck, I overheard several women express longing to start working in their garden. In January!

The extended forecast calls for a little rain and possibly some snow later in the week, but nothing dramatic.

All this can change, of course. I recall times we've had an entire winter's worth of weather in a week. But for now, the unusual winter continues.

I guess we have no complaints.

Snow pix

We've had several days of sub-zero weather which, thankfully, is easing. Here are some snow pictures from the last week or so:

Don stuck some icicles in a snowbank and called it Icehenge.

Icicles have been something of a mainstay for the past week.

It's been very pretty. Cold, but pretty. Clear days equal really cold nights.

The sun backlighting some snowdrifts.

On some mornings we had hoarfrost. This website defines it as follows: "First, to produce any frost, you need water vapor (gaseous form of water) in the air over cold ground with a surface dew point at least as cold as 32 degrees. When these water vapor molecules contact a subfreezing surface, such as a blade of grass, they jump directly from the gas state to solid state, a process known as 'deposition,' leading to a coating of tiny ice crystals."

Whatever the cause, hoarfrost is spectacularly beautiful. It's like every surface is coated with diamonds. It has to be seen to be believed. Photos can't do it justice.

Early dawn:

Full daylight:

For obvious reasons, I call these Days of Diamonds.

Even the snow itself forms hoarfrost ice crystals:

Here's some hay in the barn:

Sunset:

Alpenglow on the distant peaks:

Yep, if we have to have bitterly cold temperatures, at least the scenery is gorgeous.