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Published: January 21st 2011
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By Melisse.
If only I had one of those hovercrafts they promised us when I was a child. It feels criminal to disturb these diamonds beneath the soles of my shoes. For as far as I can see in the vast meadow near our cabin, covering the grassy patches of the sacred wetlands near Katchemak Bay and surrounding the acres and acres of Beluga Lake in Homer, hoar frost blankets the landscape creating a sparkling, magical, dazzling sight. To the casual observer the variety of crystalline forms and patterns is mesmerizing. To the person who looks even closer it is mind-blowing, as one notices that no two crystals appear to be alike. The light reflects off of the delicate surfaces with tiny hot white lights in the cold winter air. As conditions have been perfect for many weeks, the beautiful, robust but fragile diamond-like frost has remained undamaged and pristine for the past weeks. Today, I awake to find a new layer of fresh soft snow blanketing the ground. It has covered the frost, but I remember it is still there.
If you'd like to know more about hoar frost, how and under what conditions it is formed, check out
these websites. I like the explanation in the first one the best.
http://www2.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF3/300.html
http://www.its.caltech.edu/~atomic/snowcrystals/frost/frost.htm
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anonymous
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So beautiful, I wish they didn't have to melt!