There is a bit of magic in waking up to trees glazed in icy wonder.

As the sun dodged in and out from wolf-gray clouds, I kept stepping outdoors into the frigid air for brief moments to admire the prisms of rime, the sky a ceiling of diamond-laden branches. Both the cold and the beauty took my breath away.

Finally I threw on an extra sweater and a pair of clogs and stepped back out into the wind and snow in order to appreciate a giant pine tree up close in all its frost-queen regalia.

Each fascicle was a delight of whorls and patterns in a crystalized, frozen world.

The wind was bitter cold, sending icy jabs sharper than the needles on the tree into my face and through my inadequate clothing, an invitation to run back inside. But mesmerized, I kept returning, as the sun would emerge for brief moments, creating radiant sparkles everywhere.

Such beautiful clusters, dewy droplets stopped mid-motion, suspended in time. Verglas.

Each a tiny gem reflecting the world.

The gutter above The Urban Porch has created its own unique ice-scape, sending cascading rivers and unicorn horns down the side of the house.

Stalactites form, effecting dark caves by the lattice at the base of the porch.

The Rose of Sharon wears a glacial crown,

waving sleeves of saber teeth,

and a gown of linen glass.

Slanting sun of late afternoon casts long shadows onto the glaze-covered snow in my neighbor’s yard. The dog and I gingerly shuffle our way down a salted but still slippery sidewalk. While he stops to sniff, I idly imagine it is the silhouette of the Eiffel Tower.

This week we will have a warming spell; with it will come the soot and mud. Most likely it will be a temporary situation, a February thaw, as March is known to bring another storm or two. While most of us are probably more than ready for winter to play itself out, these sparkling gems of seasonal beauty provide a break in the longing for spring.

~*~