An early morning hike rewarded me with the beauty of a sparkling white field of frost. It had been a cold, clear night and, like this teasel plant, everything was covered in hoar frost. Frost crystals are actually translucent, but scatter light in many directions so that a coating of frost appears white. These tiny feather-shaped crystals can only form under specific conditions and are very fragile, so just before the sun turned the crystals into water droplets I captured this precious moment in nature.

• • •

John De Boer lives in Kitchener and enjoys daytripping off the beaten path.