Wait, what?

This morning I looked out my window and saw something that made me think, "Wait what?" It was snowing, except it was not snowing. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, not a single cloud.  And yet huge falling flakes of snow were coming down and covering my deck and the already snow covered ground. I quickly went to the door to see just what was happening. Now you have to understand, the heat wave of the last couple of day (a bright and sunny 24 degrees) had gotten most all of the snow out of the trees the day before.  So I knew that it could not just be the wind blowing the snow out of the trees.

I, of course, had woken up early in the morning before the sun was up. When I checked my phone, it had told me that there was a haze. It had not said fog. But as I watched the snow falling, I thought, maybe we had a freezing fog over night, and that is what now covered my trees. And another maybe here, maybe the beautiful sun and the current 10 degrees was warm enough to melt this freezing fog and allow it to fall as if it was snowing.

I stood there with the door open and watched this beautiful sight for a while. I of course wanted to get a better look at it so I got ready to step outside.  I had to stop myself in mid step. Ten degrees, hmm, that is 40 degrees warmer than it was a few days ago, but I did not even have socks on my feet and thought that maybe the deck and the ice and snow covering it might be a tad cold. I went and put my shoes on and grabbed my camera.

Nebraska has been very cold the last couple of weeks. We have not taken the children outside for recess in two weeks because our thermometers have been reading on the negative side of the scale.  The week or two before this bitter cold had been filled with frost covered trees and fog that lasted most all day. On those days, walking to school, I would look at the sparkling trees finding pleasure in the beauty all around me. My mind played with ideas and words. One morning there was a heavy fog, but I needed to go to town. Fog was better to drive in then a blizzard (yes, we had been having lots of snow as well) so I went to town in the fog. While driving I had a idea for a story that I still want to write. When I got home it was time for research. 

I read about freezing fog. I read about hoarfrost. I like the word hoarfrost. It sounds so much more interesting to me than freezing fog. But sadly, the state that I imagined for my story was more of a freezing fog. So when I do write that story it will not be about hoarfrost. (I will have to find a different place to put hoarfrost into my words.)

Now all of this might not seem linked to everyone, but in my mind, this snow/frost falling on a sunny morning was a call to get back to that story I imagined on a drive to town a few weeks ago.  The horrible cold we had been having had keep me from seeing the beautiful sparkling crystals all around me. This morning as I looked out of my window and tried to understand what I was seeing, I felt all of that come back to me.  Now do not for one moment think this means I am ready for another month of two of winter. I have several plant catalogs sitting beside my bed, signs of spring and the plants that are still hidden under a foot or more of snow.

But as I wait for the snow to melt, and the temperature to get over freezing, I should probably sit down and write a story. 

Oh, and here is a definition of

 hoarfrost:

a grayish-white crystalline deposit of frozen water vapor formed in clear still weather on vegetation and fences. 

freezing fog:

tiny, supercooled liquid water droplets in fog that freeze instantly on exposed surfaces when the surface temperatures are at or below freezing.

Funny enough when I look at pictures of hoarfrost and freezing fog, I am not sure I can actually tell the difference, except that one requires fog and the other clear skies. It might take more research for me to fully understand this bit of winter weather.