Hoarfrost

My neighbor Jo told me to expect this when I moved here, so when I went out this morning I was at first dazzled by the twinkling of hard frost in the early morning light. Then I noticed the water in the bird bath was frozen solid. As Mocha and I made our way down the drive toward the lake, there it was...hoarfrost...big as life!

hoarfrost: deposit of ice crystals on objects exposed to the free air, such as grass blades, tree branches, or leaves. It is formed by direct condensation of water vapor to ice at temperatures below freezing ...

What the encyclopedia Britannica definition doesn't say is that these deposits are vertical. They stick straight up, as if frost fairies staked them into the ground overnight. I'm trippin'.