Life on the farm: The first hard frost

I experienced my first English hard frost last week. I have rarely, if ever, seen this in America.

I was on my way to pick up my mom at the airport, and as this is her first visit to England since we've been living here, I was crossing my fingers for good weather. On the afternoon of her arrival, it was supposed to be very cold but sunny so I planned for us to go on a good long walk around the farm. I had woken up to thick fog that morning and figured it would clear by lunchtime. Instead of clearing, the fog only got soupier throughout the day. It was kind of amazing for our walk, but I was actually scared to drive to pick the kids up from school in the fading light. It was the slowest I have ever driven. Slightly bummed that the weather had not cooperated, I went to bed hoping for a better day that followed.

The next morning, the sky was clear, the sun was just rising and, at first it looked like it had snowed. Everything was white. I went outside in my pyjamas to take a picture of the garden, and couldn't stop myself there. I wandered down the bridle path to the horse field and then all the way back up the hill to the view from the pillars at the old entrance to the farm. The difference, as far as I could tell, between the frost and a snowfall is that snow just dumps down leaving a heavy blanket over the land, whereas the frost gently and delicately just lines everything in white. Every blade of grass and leaf on every tree is visible, yet frozen and shimmering. It turns out that the humidity in the air from the fog had settled into the landscape and then frozen over night. Mom and I agreed it was one of the most beautiful things we have ever seen.