Unexpected Beauty

On Saturday,December 15,I was on my way to A Rocha to attend a Christmas Open House there when I encountered beauty beyond compare.

At home everything looked pretty normal,snow on the ground and bare tree branches against the blue sky Nothing wrong with that picture,but I was in for a surprise.

 I had only travelled a few miles west of town when the landscape changed. Every branch and grass was covered in a heavy layer of Hoar Frost.I have not seen frost this thick in a very long time.

This is not snow on these branches,but frost crystals.What a marvellous sight!

I hardly knew what direction to turn the camera.Of course that brilliant blue sky only added to the beauty. If you look near the top and centre of the tree in the picture below,you can see  a few branches where the frost has already fallen off. This gives you an idea of just how thick the frost was.

Once I got to A Rocha,the birds were willing photo subjects.

The White-breasted Nuthatch is not one to sit still for very long,so I had to be quick to get this shot.

Notice that even here some frost is evident on the trees.

By the time I started towards home the sun was low in the western sky.The low angle of light turned the frost covered trees into yet another scene of beauty.

I love the way the trees turned pink in the evening light.

Once again I was hard pressed to make a choice as to which direction I would shoot.Looking east all was a beautiful shade of pink or almost purple and to the west the setting sun was creating a different kind of beauty. This scene looks like a cold day,when in reality it was a beautiful winter day,with little or no wind and comfortable temperatures.

 I drove the rest of the way home,about a half hour drive,smiling and praising God for allowing me to be out there at just the right moments.

Thought for Today:

It's not just what you look at that matters,

it's what you see.

Henry David Thoreau